Restoring a Daneker Spinning Wheel

A while back, I ran across a pretty spinning wheel on Craigslist.  A gentleman was clearing out his deceased mother's home in Door County and had a number of fiber tools for sale.  I snapped it up at a good price and brought it home.   (he later called me back about another spinning wheel that I also bought, more on that in another blog)

I looked around on the internet and researched until I found the maker of the wheel, it's a Daneker wheel.  Some fiber websites of spinners on a list insist that these are just decoration wheels that they do not have an orifice and are not made to spin.  But some other websites said they do work.  Hmmmmm  It has all the features of a working wheel, including an orifice for the fibers to feed through. It's mainly constructed as a flax wheel, but can spin fine wool yarns too.  I only spin fine wool, not thick stuff, so I thought I will give it a shot.

It was missing a few key pieces and needed a good cleanup....

*Craigslist photo*

I tied on a string to emulate the missing pittman arm, and put on a drive band. Voila--- I got it to spin!  It needed some parts replacing and a good cleaning, but all in all, it was a working spinning wheel.

A few months ago I met a man named Chuck Spann, at our local weaving guild meeting.  He makes drop spindles, and refinishes spinning wheels and makes tools and supplies.  He lives about 20 miles from my home, so after a phone call, he said come on over!  Here is his card:

I told him I was in no hurry, as he had a few other projects to finish up, plus he works full time at a boat builder in Manitowoc.  He had just finished up working on another wheel just like this for someone else.  Not only was he going to make the missing parts, but he was also going to make me three larger bobbins in contrast to the one smaller one that came with the wheel.

He gave me a call on Sunday and said it was done!!!

----plus he had to come to Chilton, so he delivered it----

 Here it is in all it's glory.... and just gleaming with new wax too. 

(I hadn't sent the flax distaff along, 

so it didn't get waxed yet--- I will do it myself) 

He created three larger capacity bobbins for me.... 

each one perfectly balanced and true to round for no wobble

(the old one wobbled) 

The flyer is able to accommodate the larger bobbins easily. Now I can spin more yarn per bobbin (less joins later in projects when knitting)  He also replaced the old bent and rusty hooks with new smooth shiny ones that won't bind the fibers.

He made a new pittman arm to go on the wheel shaft from the treadle.  The original was missing and he had to figure the exact height to work properly.  He also added a metal "keeper" to slide over and lock the pittman arm into place on the curved shaft of the wheel.  Less easier to knock loose or break this way.  It "keeps" it in place when in motion.

The two little pegs that hold the wheel shaft into place were missing.... so Chuck made new pegs for that too.  Two spots in the center sprocket of the wheel needed securing with tiny nails, which can be a risk to pound in, but he did a great job and made it all secure.

The leather "bearings" that hold the flyer assembly were created by gluing together layers of leather to reach a good stiff thickness that holds the flyer into the upright maidens. He added a new drive string (double drive configuration)   Everything spins fine and true!

I must say, it works very, very well and spins smoothly.  I have some lovely alpaca roving with a bit of glitz blended in to spin up.   I bought this last fall at http://londondairyalpacas.com/ near Two Rivers and Manitowoc, WI.

The pleasant motion and use of this wheel is making it a real treat.  The wheel is larger than my other one, and seems to gobble up my drafting fibers quite well and quickly. I have it set just right to not "overtwist" the single ply.  It seems that I can keep up with it and treadle at a good speed. It spins "fast" and I did up this much on the bobbin in a short time.

The price charged by Chuck Spann to restore this wheel

 was very reasonable,

and I am going to really enjoy spinning on it.

Here is some interesting history on the maker of this wheel.  

Notice the part that he once worked with 

Howard Hughes on the Spruce Goose plane project! 

Charles R. Daneker, 92, clock company executive
May 19, 2003
Charles R. Daneker, a retired executive of the Daneker Clock Co., died of heart failure Thursday at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 92.

Mr. Daneker, who was known as "Brod," was born and raised in Bel Air. After graduating from Bel Air High School, he earned his bachelor's degree in 1936 from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College.

He was commander of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp on the Eastern Shore before enlisting in the Army, where he served in the infantry. He later transferred to the Army Air Corps and trained pilots. After World War II, he was discharged with the rank of major.

Mr. Daneker later traveled to California, where he worked with Howard Hughes on his Spruce Goose project -- the famous H-4 giant seaplane that flew for about a minute on its maiden and only flight in 1947.

He returned to Bel Air and went to work for the Million-Rutherford Co., a family-owned business that was established in 1946 and at one time was the nation's largest manufacturer of grandfather clocks.

The handmade cases were fashioned by craftsmen in the company's Fallston plant, while the imported works were fabricated by German clockmakers.

The company, which was also known for mantle clocks and spinning wheels, later became the Daneker Clock Co. It closed in 1973.

Mr. Daneker, who enjoyed flying and owned several private planes, continued to fly until he was well into his 70s.

A resident of Towson, he also spent part of the year at his second home in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Plans for a memorial service were incomplete yesterday.

Mr. Daneker is survived by his wife of 66 years, the former Mary Perrine; a son, Thomas E. Daneker of Towson; a brother, Million E. Daneker of Bel Air; and several nieces and nephews.

Thank you, Mr. Daneker for making this lovely wheel!

.

Camping Weekend with Dad P and Changing Bilstein to Koni Shocks on Motorhome

Saturday was a nice day for Steve and his dad... they went into Fond du Lac for a late breakfast and a little RV supply shopping at Merz RV.  While the guys were gone, I was settling down with my antique sockknitting machine and whipped out a few pairs before they got back. It was such a pleasant way to spend the morning.  Peaceful. Creative. and in a sense, Working.

On the way back to the campground, the guys stopped at this cute little meat market in Pipe, WI and picked up some big ole steaks.  Steve's brother Pete was coming out for dinner.  Of course they had to get out the cribbage board and cards for a while to do their male bonding thing....

And from this pic, I think you can tell who the winner was

(the family patriarch in GREEN) 

We had originally planned this weekend as a large Pfundtner Family Camp-Out on a group site at High Cliff State Park. It had been planned and reserved back in April or so.  But one by one, each part of the family backed out and soon it was only us and the patriarch, Pa Pfundtner (Or "Pops" as Pete calls him) left to actually go camping.  Our weather was hot and muggy all weekend.  In retrospect, I am glad we were here in the two electrical sites at Columbia Park instead so we could have the air conditioning on. It would have been an awful weekend at that group site with no hookups for the rest of the camping family. 

Being here at the lakeshore sites along Lake Winnebago, we could catch a breeze now and then. What a wonderful way for the guys to spend the afternoon.  It was pretty hot and muggy, but they hung outside and played their cards and enjoyed their time together.  I got the supper together with all the fixen's and Steveio manned the grill and put some corn on the cob to roast over the campfire. 

Yes, the blog is sometimes about FOOD....

We had a nice night and were grateful to have power hookups at the campground. We ran the air conditioners on the rig almost constantly, one or the other. Being only on a 30 amp hookup, so really can't run both at the same time.  It worked out well to run the front one when we were in the bedroom at night, and during the day to run the back one (with a fan setting on the bed to blow the cool air into the front).  

This morning I woke up and it was kinda cool out yet.  I mixed up one of these wonderful mixes from Krusteaz into a coffee cake and baked it in the convection oven (turning off the air conditioner first). Didn't want to trip any breakers. It was a fine treat with our morning coffee.  

I thought I should take a pic of the doggers, they were such patient and happy campers. It was very hot and muggy, so long walks with little ole Duke were out of the question.  They both spent a lot of the time inside of the motorhome.  It's really a Dogs' Life, eh?

Saying our goodbyes with Pa Pfundtner.... we packed up about noon, dumped our holding tanks and headed on home.

We found that on Saturday our other set of Koni shocks came for the motorhome.  The box was waiting for us in the front porch. These shocks were for the front.   A few weeks ago Steve ordered the back ones and he had put them on before I even had a chance to take a picture!  Imagine that!

We had Bilsteins on for 4 years but decided to put on Koni. We have a Magnum Velvetride torsilastic suspension.  

Ordered the front shocks from LTB Autosports Inc  part #881641SP3 http://ltbautosports.com/morvshab  

We ordered the the rears from RVchassiparts.com Part #: 881458SP2

He set the rig up on it's front jack to get a bit of clearance ... and it was MY job to turn the steering wheel from side to side.  He pulled out the air compressor and had out his air tools to do the job.

Since he put on "Never Seize"  four years ago when mounting the Bilsteins, it was a pretty easy job for him to take those nuts off and put on the new shocks.   Good thing he's a skinny guy!

 The old ones (Bilsteins) are blue and yellow.  

The Koni adjustable shocks are bright red. 

He had the passenger side done toot sweet, in ten minutes flat!  Then it was my turn to get back inside and turn the wheels all the way to the right. Some assistance, eh?  Then he was able to get into the driver's side of the rig to work on that one.

Then I got distracted by picking some of my ripe tomatoes! Wheeheeeee what a harvest for the weekend. I had just picked as many as I could on Friday.  Now today I got a bunch more.  I plan to get these canned up in the morning into a few quarts of stewed tomatoes. I do a few jars every other day or so until the frost comes. Aren't they just SO PRETTY????

By the time I was done picking my tomatoes, 

he had the other side shock changed out. 

There... two new Konis installed. What a guy! 

DRIVER'S SIDE                                     PASSENGER SIDE 

Next up on our evening, a wheel restoration guy is stopping by. Not motorhome wheels, silly reader.... but SPINNING wheels.  He restored an old one for me and made up some new bobbins.  I will blog about that tomorrow.

Meeting other Safari Owners on the Road

Last weekend when we were heading up through Escanaba, MI for my newphew's wedding... we happened to stop at Walmart for a couple things before heading to Gladstone. We pulled in and saw another Safari Motorhome parked there!  We pulled in behind them and had two things to pick up in the store.  When we came back out, we saw the owners outside their rig, walking their dogs.

We introduced ourselves .... Their names are Lu and George and they are from Canada.

So we chatted for a bit... it's so nice to meet other Safari Owners around the country.  Our rigs are now approaching the 19 year mark, so they are considered "vintage" I should think!  haha  But we still see a lot of them on the road, going strong.

Soon we were showing the insides of each other's motorhomes, comparing dings and dents, and sharing stories of repairs.   Their large glassed in shower features an etching of a big lion...   and I especially liked the reflective grid over their florescent light fixture in the kitchen.  It was like little golden tubes of metallic plastic that diffused the light and made a pretty pattern. Very retro.

They had two dogs on board, as did we.... and we both remarked how nice it is to travel with the family pets inside and part of our lives.  We then examined our back custom painted murals that Safari's are famous for.

We told them somewhere on their mural is a small hidden animal.  The Dame brothers were artists who painted each mural at the factory as coaches were ordered.  Here is a website link to more info if you wish to read about them: http://www.arcatapet.net/travel/murals.cfm

(We couldn't locate their "hidden animal" but I am sure they will keep looking) 

Here is a photo of the back of our rig, with our tiny mouse highlighted ....

We had to say our goodbyes and get further on up the road to our nephew's wedding location in Gladstone.  So we exchanged emails and informed them about our Safari Group on Yahoo to join up and interact with other Safari Owners.  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SafariCoaches/


This weekend we have our rig parked at Columbia Park in Fond du Lac on the shores of Lake Winnebago. Our patriarch of the Pfundtner Family is here with us.... Steve's Dad, Paul.

He has a Rexhall RexAire motorhome ...  he pulled into the site next to us for the weekend.  I told him from the front of his rig reminds me of the little ladybug rides at the amusement park with the little antennas hanging down over their faces!  LOL

We were able to pull into our campsites so we face each other, and enjoy our sites by using the area in between our campers.  Soon our awnings were deployed and our lawn chairs placed outside. Let the weekend begin!

Last night after dinner, we set up the tv outside of the rig so we could watch the Packer Game.  From time to time the larger tv signal would cut out, so we had the smaller one next to it as "stand by" haha.  They are both the same brand of tv, but the smaller one we keep in the bedroom seems to pull in stations better.

The tv reception in this area is quite spotty, and it comes and goes.  We were pulling in signals from Green Bay which is 50+ miles away.  Not too bad for our tiny Jack King antenna on our rig.   At least we got to watch the game!

We had a few fellow campers who couldn't get the signal at all in their rigs, stop by to check the score or watch a few good plays.

Even though it was only a preseason game, we got to watch our favorite players in action, and see a few of the new guys putting on a good show.  The team roster final cuts are coming at the end of the month, and we want to see who stays and who goes. They won, over the Raiders, 31 to 21.

And this is how I enjoyed my Packer Game....

This morning is kinda cloudy and hazy, but it is going to be hot and humid again. We are happy to be camping with electrical hookups at this park.  We are able to use the air conditioning in the rig, especially later today.

Steve and Pa Pfundtner headed into Fond du Lac for a few items at the RV dealer and are going to do some RV maintenance this afternoon.    I think I am going to crank some socks.  Ahhh the camping weekend life!

RVing Friends Gone Home and did you know Steve is "A Machine"??

This morning our RVing pals Mel and Paula pulled out of High Cliff after staying for five days. We had shared a few meals, some shopping, and a nice evening of campfire sitting... I forgot to post this pic of our Two Brawny Lumberjack Men trying to get the campfire going with this one tiny hatchet!  LOL

These two get together and you never know what is going to happen! 

We said our goodbyes and we swiped the rest of their firewood.... because we are going camping this weekend with Steve's Dad nearby at Columbia Park. The motorhome is loaded up now as I type this and tomorrow I will drive it over to the park at noon. (Yes, for the new folks reading this blog, I do drive our 38ft diesel pusher motorhome myself too...)  Hopefully we will have a nice weekend and not too hot or muggy.


One of the nice (and many) gifts that Paula brought to me this week was this old antique light fixture!  It was from her sister's home, and Paula didn't really have a place for it in her house.  So she asked if we were interested in it.  It fits our "home style" perfectly!

Steve already installed it in our main floor bathroom and it looks wonderful.  Thank you so much, Paula!  I am sure your sister would be pleased to see it used and loved.




This evening, our neighbors came over and wanted us to help film their Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS so they could put it on Facebook to pass on the challenge to three of their people.  So Steve and I each held a camera in case one of us would goof up, we would have two separate videos of the same scene.  LOL  We both got a good film, and nobody needed to do a "reshoot" of the event:

And now for the part in my title about Steve being dubbed "A Machine"  ....  well, you can read about it yourself.  I copied and pasted this newspaper article that appeared in Times Villager newspaper about High Cliff State Park-----

From bitter to proud: the story of Wilmer Schulz at High Cliff State Park

Posted by Times-Villager Newspaper Group on Aug - 21 - 2014

FROM BITTER TO PROUD: THE STORY OF WILMER SCHULZ AT HIGH CLIFF STATE PARK

By Brian Roebke

Editor |

High Cliff State Park in Sherwood observed its 50th anniversary as a state park last week, and the most amazing story told by the 11 speakers at the ceremony was told by Wilmer Schulz, the longest-serving superintendent in the park.

Now 85 years old, Schulz told his story from the time he was approached by the government to the anniversary ceremony.

Schulz’s opinion of the park has changed 180 degrees from the first day he was approached about selling his land.

After the land for the park was purchased by the Wisconsin Conservation Commission, which later became the Department of Natural Resources, there was some turmoil.

Wilmer Schulz took over the family farm from his father in the early 1950s and was excited to make a living on the farm and use the big 40-acre woods to make maple syrup.

“We had 600, 700 pails out and cooked 120 gallons on syrup every spring, sometimes 200,” he said. “Cook and Brown was one of our biggest customers, and they would take 20 or 30 gallons a year.”

That syrup would be given to their office staff for an Easter present.

A gentleman from the DNR named Clyde Smith drove into his yard one day with something that would change his life forever: a request to purchase his woods.

Schulz told him, “Sir, it isn’t for sale, I just bought it.” Smith said, “No, we want it.”

He repeated that it wasn’t for sale and Smith told him the state would condemn it.

In the end, Schulz worked with the state and sold the land for $300 an acre, noting that land would be worth $8,000-$10,000 an acre today.

“I sold it to them and I was bitter,” he said. “Two of my neighbors were condemned, Schwabenlanders, Zehringer, farms were condemned because they didn’t want to sell, but they had to sell.”

One day Smith stopped to buy some maple syrup from him and said he wanted four or five gallons to bring to his friends in Madison. He bought even more the next year and told him they could use some part-time help at High Cliff.

He was asked if he could run a chain saw, tractor, and small Caterpillar.

Schulz was asked to talk to Andy Friedauer, who was the only employee from Western Lime that the state wanted to work at the park.

“Andy came up to me and said, ‘why don’t you work when you can, take a day off here, take a day off there,’ and that’s how I started working for the DNR,” he said.

As the park grew, he worked more and more until Smith told him he wanted to make him a park ranger.

“I told him if I get to be park ranger I will sell my cows and work full time,” he said.

He saw a newspaper ad the next week advertising for a park ranger at High Cliff, and Schulz was puzzled.

He called the park manager, John Franzen, who told him he had to pass a civil service test first.

“Luckily I graduated from high school,” he said. “Back in those days you didn’t have to go to high school if you didn’t want to, but you had to go until you were 16.”

He loved school, so he stayed. The school wanted him to go to college but his dad told him he would be a farmer.

He passed the test and was hired.

“I put the cows up for auction and I was still bitter,” he said. “Believe it or not, I was still bitter.”

When he started working, two men from Madison came up and said they wanted to purchase 40 more acres.

“I was crop farming and working here doing service, I was a fool to work,” he said.

They did purchase that work land for $600 an acre, much less than the $10,000 an acre his neighbor sold his for last year.

At that time, the park was in disarray, Schulz thought, since the park superintendent didn’t want to work weekends. The park was wild at that time because of the lack of control. Monday mornings were spent cleaning up the litter, bottles, and cans.

“It got so bad the state troopers would not come in to work anymore,” he said.

Schulz told him they had to talk to people above him and a couple weeks later staff was working seven days a week.

The park manager was promoted and Schulz was named acting superintendent. He passed another test to become the superintendent and was told to clean up the park and make some money.

“We were known as the rear end of the park system, that was not nice to hear,” he said.

They told him they were taking in less than half their expenses because they weren’t working Sundays and selling stickers.

“They said, ‘we want you to straighten out this park, get it to be a family park, and we want to make some money,’” he said.

His challenge couldn’t be done without some more help, so the state gave him another ranger, a naturalist, and hired Mueller as a seasonal worker and Janet Deprey as a secretary. He said they worked together beautifully.

“We started taking reservations for the campground,” he said. “We did it all in the office and the first year we had help from Kettle Moraine and Point Beach.”

The rangers would come on Sunday, with as many as eight rangers in the park. They wrote out 660 citations the first year, something Schulz wasn’t proud of, but felt it had to be done.

“When I retired 11 years later, we wrote out 60,” he said.

He believes he hired good people who turned the park around. Four people came through who moved on to superintendent positions at other parks.

He visited the park two years ago and went home almost crying. “It didn’t look good,” he said. “It looked bad.”

When he came back last week to talk to Linda Gulig, he said it looked a lot better.

She credited her maintenance worker Steve Pfundtner for being   “a machine.”

Someone asked him why he groomed the park like a city park and he told them, “You have to give in order to get.”

He believes a good product will result in people coming to that product.

“That’s why High Cliff got to be the (day) use area it is today and it was back then,” he said.

When he retired, he was proud of what he did and is glad the workers who came through the park are superintendents today and the boss, Jerry Leiterman (Northeast District Park Supervisor), is one of the nicest young men he had working for him.

“Now he’s Linda’s boss,” he said.

He talked about his buddy Joe Diederich, who lived across the road from him.

When Diederich got his driver’s license, he wanted to go to Kaukauna to the movie in his Pontiac coupe.

“We come down that hill, you know the hill it used to be, and he had it in high gear,” Schulz said. “Well I never had a ride in my life … we hit the railroad tracks down there and we went airborne about 3-4 feet and shot across the road and I said to Joe, ‘I want to go home.’”

They did go to the movie but he held his breath all the way to Kaukauna.

He said his heart is in the park but he didn’t want to be part of the Friends group telling people what to do.

“The High Cliff Association, when I was here, helped us a lot,” he said. “I found after I got in the files after I became superintendent and found out they helped pay for some of the land they bought from me, which I didn’t know.”

He said the Friends are important because the state doesn’t provide enough money and enough help to run the property like it should.

“At one time I was so bitter when I sold the land but at the same time, I was proud when I left here,” he said. “I’m not bitter anymore.”

A Poopy Job in a Campground -- and RVing Friends Visit

(I am still working on a blog about the weekend up north for my nephew's wedding)

So you think working in a campground is fun?  Well, most of the time it is.  But not always!

As you know, Steve is in charge of the facilities maintenance at High Cliff State Park.

Steveio got the report that the dump station was clogged up, so he had to go and investigate.  It seems some brainless NIT WIT (to be kind and not swear on my blog)  stuck something down in the hole at the park for dumping RV holding tanks.  Nobody could dump their tanks, and the few that tried, had their hoses back up and fill the whole catch basin... so that had to slowly seep down before any investigative work could begin.  NOT a great way to start a Monday morning!!!

Trying first with an auger, then poles and hooks, then pressure hoses, and finally having to use the backhoe and chains and pull up the pipe to get down to what was plugging it up.  The process also necessitated crawling down in the nearby manhole to remove the object.... ewwwwww

After using up 7 hours of valuable man hours of three workers to dislodge the item, it turned out to be a Gatorade drink bottle.  ARRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!   It was a firm hard plastic reusable drink type bottle that would not just squish down like a disposable water bottle.

Some brainless idiots (being kind here) just don't realize that someone has to go to a LOT of work to remove their stupid stunt.... when strained budget and available man hours don't let other routine work get done either.  I bet they enjoyed the lovely park that day, and it's lovely BECAUSE of the hardworking people who keep it that way.  So instead of getting their own work done, the guys had to spend most of the day troubleshooting and taking care of this stupid act of vandalism!   Plus, there are FOUR dumpsters about 20 steps away from the dump station, so that is no excuse either of a dummy not having a place to throw away their trash and thought sticking it in the hole it would dispose of it??

(okay--- my rant is done) 

I happened to be in the park and was able to snap a few pics, because our friends Mel and Paula were there camping for a few days.  It was kinda a dreary on-again off-again rainy day.  So we hopped in the car and ran around the local area hitting a few thrift shops.  Then they took me out for lunch!

   (poor Steveio didn't have any time or appetite for lunch while working on the clogged dump station!) 

As we went from store to store, finding treasures and even some quilting fabrics... THIS is what happens to husbands who complain that we are taking too long! Heh heh......

Tuesday was also a kinda hot humid clammy and sometimes shower day.... 

so what did we do? 

MORE thrift store shopping!   hahahahahha

We didn't know what the weather would be like, so instead of cooking at the campground, we came to our house to make dinner. When Steve got home from work, we had a nice supper prepared and he and Mel tossed some steaks on the grill.   Ahhh good food, good wine, and friends!  How nice---

My tomatoes are now ripe and fresh from my backyard,

and this was our first salad to enjoy with garden 'maters! 

The weather seemed to finally clear up and dry out a bit.  So we went back to the campground with them to enjoy an evening campfire.  Mel popped in a piece of copper pipe with a bit of old plastic garden hose inside.  This creates the colored campfire on the right.  

(warning --do not cook over this type of fire,

 as you don't know what chemicals are released due to the burning device) 

BEFORE                                                 AFTER 

Photos just don't do a campfire justice,

so I will post a video clip here of the actual fire! 

Whirlwind Visit From the Folks and Sky Diving Great Auntie!

Well, my folks made it safe and sound to Chilton.... I was in the grocery store and got a phone call saying they were sitting on my front porch!  So I drove home as soon as I could, and yup, there they were--- two little homeless waifs sitting on my front stoop... looking for a person with a key to get in the house!   There weren't any cars behind me, so I pulled up in front of the house, rolled down the passenger window and took this pic of them.

I pulled in the driveway and snapped another shot of them sitting there.  

They looked so gosh durned cute! 

We made up some lunch and caught up on all the newest, latest and greatest.  Then my dad wanted to go down to New Holstein to TSC store check out some farm equipment, and it just so happens that next door is a thrift shop... so Mom and I went in there!

We hit one more thift shop in Kiel and then headed on back to our house... soon Steveio would be home from work.  Relaxing out on the front porch is a good way to wind down his busy day... and enjoying some time with the folks too!

 (the Pillsbury Dough Boy Cookie Jar in the lower right corner

was her mother's day present I didn't mail because they were moving) 

Mom hauled out the photo albums she brought along and was showing Steveio all about their newest home in Georgia.  These folks change their homes as often as they change their underwear (almost) ....  Well, I can count six different places they have moved to in the last 10 years or so.  So she had to show us all about the newest place.

I made up a couple pans of lasagna, using the roll-up method.  One was chicken alfredo lasagna and the other was the tomato meat sauce type.  Both came out great!

Here is the Chicken Alfredo recipe... click to enlarge it in another window to read the words if it's too small on your browser.

Here is the way I make it, I added some Italian bread crumbs on top too.

We sat around the for the evening, catching up and enjoying the time with my folks.  My dad has a very sassy habit of sharing his Cheetos Cheese Puffs with Finney. (who is a very willing participant, I might add)   There... caught in the act!

And Mom is not much better!   Here she is this morning sharing a cinnamon roll with the pup!  ARRRGGHHH!   She also keeps a handful of doggie treats in her pocket, and both dogs follow her all around the house to see how many they can beg off of her.

After coffee this morning, they loaded up and headed further north to the U.P. of Michigan.  It was not a sad "goodbye" ...rather it was a "see you soon" in two days!   They will visit some of the other people we know up there, and then head over with the family to Escanaba, MI for the weekend. We are happy to have a family gathering coming up for my nephew Darren's wedding!   It should be a great time, and we have the motorhome loaded up and ready to roll.  Steve has to work till noon tomorrow and then we will head out.  So we will be seeing the folks, and siblings, some of our kids and grandkids, and friends at the wedding ...  Will take a LOT of pics! 

Speaking of family... 

my great auntie Bernice
(technically my second cousin) 
sure made a big headline 

in the local paper in Port Washington, WI!   

Check this out! 

Cross This One Off Her Bucket List --- At age 90, Bernice Miser of Port fulfills her longtime dream of skydiving

Yes... she sure did!!!!   

You go, girl!  

Soooo proud of you, Bernie...

you have a LOT more guts than I do~!