They Found Our Missing Window! plus Socially Distant Grandkids Visit

Yayyyyy! Menards called and said they found our eighth missing window!  They found out that it had been accidentally shipped to the Menards store in Marquette, Michigan.

That is 140 miles away from here. 

I suppose, the label reading Marquette, is close to the spelling of Marinette? Anyhow, they apologized over and over. They are sending a separate pick up truck up from the Marinette store tomorrow to get it and bring it back down to Marinette. They said we can come and get it by Tuesday. (too bad they don't deliver for free).  Then early Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. we will drive to the curbside pickup at the special order door and have it placed in the back of our Saturn. We are trying to avoid any physical contact. It's an extra 40 mile round trip for us. That's much better than waiting another six to eight weeks for another custom window to be built for our dimensions.

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After coffee this morning, Steve decided maybe we would tackle replacing the next window. He's going to work his way around the house window by window until all eight of them are replaced. This is window number two. Is he going to do one every day?

This is the one in the master bedroom that faces to the South. Again, it has the same problem of moisture build up between the inner window and the outer storm, due to air leakage. The outside temperature during the day is in the 30s and at night down in thet teens and 20s. It will be good to get this done before we hit the Sub-Zero stuff!

Steve started today outside on the ladder, removing the many long 3-inch screws that were driven into the house to hold this crazy storm window creation into place.  This time, none of them were stripped and he was able to remove them all from the frame.

This is a pretty awful situation between the inner window panes and this outer aluminum storm. Not only is the moisture build-up, but it looks pretty rough and rugged too. It will be good to have this cleaned up and nice new windows all around.

Again, the outside storm windows had been caulked into place and had to be cut all the way around to free it from the window frame. Finally Steve was able to remove the stops on the inside (without breaking any) to take out the interior window panes one at a time.  Now he can reuse the original 100 year old wooden stops and not have to create new ones. He thoughtfully laid a spare towel on my handmade quilt to lay out his tools. 

While in the middle of our project, we suddenly got a text message that there was a delivery coming our way! Down the sidewalk, came two of our grandchildren bearing gifts. They walked a mile to get here in the winter cold to give us a socially distant delivery and a little visit at the same time. Awwwww

Clayton had to take a glance in the open window space while Grandpa was getting ready to set the new window into the opening. Of course, what little boy doesn't want to climb up a ladder?

While we visited out on the front porch, at a 6-foot distance, it was getting a little chilly. They patiently waited while I went inside and managed to surprise them with a couple Christmas mugs of hot cocoa. Complete with mini marshmallows!

While Chelsea and I were talking on the front porch stairs, Clayton decided he was going to do a project for us and remove all of the clumps of crabgrass and weeds from between our squares of sidewalk pavers. Kneeling down on that cold stone, he pulled and tugged and pulled and tugged until he got all of the pieces out of the cracks.  He was so focused on his job. 

Once he was done with that part, now he was able to grab the "Big Boy Toy" leaf blower and take care of blowing all the leftover clumps of dirt off of the sidewalk. He had a lot of energy today and he was looking for things to do. What fun to play with this battery operated blower and take care of making things look nice for us at the same time. We really appreciate that.

Since we had this fine gravel spread on our driveway this past summer, many of the grandkids are obsessed with smoothing it out anytime there are marks on it. Chelsea made a big spiral footprint design. Then Clayton had to get out the wide shop broom to smooth it all out again.

It's kind of like that ancient Chinese art where they do gravel in intricate patterns as a form of meditation. The kids are not happy until everything is smooth again to their liking.

It sure is fun to find things to do while socially distant, and have some interactions with grandkids.  I hope things will change soon, and we can be more in contact.  Again for the upcoming Christmas, their parents will test everyone in advance, isolate themselves, and be able to be together during Christmas vacation and New Years.  Wheeeee! 

After a while, it was time for them to head on back home. They gave us some long-distance socially distanced hugs, through the air. We really appreciate their efforts and then they had to track on home one mile in the cold weather.

p.s. the rug is to keep our mail lady from tripping on the 

cord leading to the little decorated tree behind Clayton.

Here are the treats they brought by. One was a loaf of beer bread and the other one is a loaf of cinnamon bread. Freshly baked! What a wonderful treat.

Steve got back to the work on the bedroom window. He sealed around with non-expanding foam and caulk under the trim. The original trim stops were all put in place and he took care of any little trim and nailing as well. We could immediately feel the difference in the room, as well as the sound muffling from the outdoor noises. This is going to be a great improvement.

Now that all the trim was in place, next would be my job to touch it all up with paint. I decided I would take care of that after lunch.

For a quick lunch, I took some chili out of the freezer. I really like cooking in large portions. One day a few weeks ago, I made up a big pot of chili, I had enough to set aside for a four or five quick lunches. A day like today was perfect for taking out a container and heating it up. Something to warm us up on the inside. We cut a few slices of that wonderful beer bread and had that along with the chili. Yummmm!!!

Oh..... The little dogs came out to spend time with us on the front porch and I snapped this picture of Finnegan, situated perfectly between my little reindeer and my red tree. He's such a handsome little fellow.

Finnegan has been full of pep and energy, and he has been eating well. Today he had a clump of leftover chicken as well as a crust of pizza, in addition to his normal dog food (I am still hand feeding him).   While the grandkids were here, they barked and ran around on the front porch and enjoyed the visit too. 

In the house, the dogs have been chasing around each other and playing, and taking a break every now and then to peek out the window and find something interesting to bark at. I'm glad that they are enjoying themselves together and having fun.

We later took a nice break while the Packer game was on TV. Steve was watching the game, so the dogs and I curled up to take a nap. Good to recharge a little...

After all, we have more windows to work on tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Saturday with Family

I had such a delightful birthday yesterday... thank you to all those who sent greetings via Facebook, cards in the mail, and all my little goomers who stopped by for a socially distanced Front Porch Birthday Visit! 

We had Unicorn Chelsea (who had her big unicorn head off for the visit), and Claire the Princess Elsa, and then Clayton who was the werewolf guy.... 

Trotting out in front was our Wonder Woman Whitney Wonder Wade... followed by her Mommy Eeore, Daddy Ted E Bear and Chickie Auntie Erin.   

Handsome Jameson, the oldest, was a masked Dragon Priest character from some new movie, I don't know what one.  But what is cool is that their family got a new 3D Printer, and they MADE this mask!   Plus they made Whitney's Wonder Woman tiara too.  How cool is that?  What a fun family project to figure this stuff out. Jesse said it's a blast and a wonderful hobby as well.  They are learning so much and Heather explained how they can get the measurements off of things or get files to recreate them with the printer. 

They showered me with wonderful thoughtful presents, and best of all, homemade birthday cards chock full of the grandkids' artwork!  Those make me smile the most. 

After the kids all left to go get their goodies around the neighborhood, we had a nice visit with some people who stopped by.  The wife, as a little girl, lived in this house. She moved away when she was 6 years old, but had so many happy memories of living here.  She took some pics to send to her mom. They moved away 20 years ago, and they were happy to see that the house is being loved again. In the future, we planned a visit where they can come over and check it out and they share some photos they have from way back when!  How cool will that be? 

After all the trick or treaters were done and on their way home, Steve set the table in the diningroom for a nice evening meal.  How he spoils me! First the new kitchen sink and disposal, then the new backsplash.... and now a tenderloin dinner on the grill. 

Well he was busy tending to the grill, I tossed a couple potatoes in the oven. Lately I've been eating baked sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. I find that I like them much more. Steve cracked open a bottle of wine and we turned on some celtic music. The soft antique lights were lit around the dining room and we were really enjoying a peaceful quiet evening. 

I have a question, I know about golden birthdays, like when you turn 26 on the 26th of the month Etc ----  But what about when you turn 60, and you were born in 1960? I think that's a special super duper golden birthday! Yep, I have turned 60. I asked Steve when he went to bed with a 50-Something wife, how did it feel to wake up with a 60 year old lady? All he did was shake his head in disbelief. Sometimes I guess he doesn't understand my humor?

But on the other hand, he was so afraid of turning 60 that he was 59 for two years in a row, and then he went straight to 61~

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Oh, one of the other projects I finished up yesterday morning was that I gave a coat of paint to the ceiling and the beams of the entryway in the she shed. In my previous post I was talking about the knot holes bleeding through the white paint as they dried out over the last year. I used the special Zinsser primer shellac spray can to cover them up. So yesterday morning I got out my little paint tray and roller and got to work.  It was a fast project and only took a few minutes to roll the entire ceiling and beam area of the entryway.

It sure covered up all those knot holes nicely and looks really good now. I'm glad that all those tan circular marks are gone. They were really bugging me. Like I said in my last post, they looked like roof leaks or something.  

And again, that guy must have been trying to turn me on because there he is, washing windows.  I told him that is a turn-on for women to see a man wash windows. Now I think he will do it all of the time just to get my attention?   

This morning it has turned very windy and cold. There are snowflakes floating around and the winds are going to reach gale-force warnings. They said there could be waves up to seven feet high out on the bay. Good day to stay inside and stay home.

As we are sitting down in the she shed this morning, enjoying our coffee, we noticed flocks of these black birds with brown heads, called Cow Birds, getting ready to head on South. They would gather on the ground in big bunches eating something. I don't know what. Then they would all fly up into the air on the wind in big swarms and swirls and land in the trees. And then a few seconds later they would all swarm back down to the ground again. How strange. I made a little video clip for a few minutes of their antics:

I'm not sure what the rest of the day holds for us. It's going to be a quiet Sunday after such a busy Saturday / birthday. The sun keeps trying to poke out and chase away the snowflakes. I guess later this week it will be warmer and we will see if there's any camping planned ahead for us in our schedule? Socially distanced, of course.

A day of camping, grandkiddos and laughter at Kleinke Park, Michigan

Ahhh we slept with all the windows open, so we were waking up to the sounds of the water lapping the shore.... I promised you blog readers a "Get Up Early Sunrise Shot"    here it is:

Totally UNtouched, that is exactly how it looked....   just GORGEOUS! 

Steveio cooked up a nice breakfast of ham, sliced potatoes, eggs and toast, which is a nice treat! ...  I hauled out my spinning wheel and worked on some lovely roving that I had dyed up.  The colors reminded me of the waters of Lake Michigan.  Once the single strand of multicolored yarn is spun, (the bobbin on the left)  then I ply it back on a strand of thin bright silky blue wool/nylon yarn as a binder thread for strength.  (the bobbin on the right still on the wheel)  I am making up five bobbins of this yarn, and they will be made into two pairs of socks! 

After sipping coffee for a while under our awning, we hopped in the Tracker with the dogs and took a ride over to Cedar River State Forest to see how many campers were in there.  (That place is our first choice to camp in this area, but seeing as the weather was forecast to be so danged hot, we instead came to choice number two, Kleinke park where there are hookups for the AC to run) 

Only 2 campers and 1 tent in that campground at Cedar River... pretty quiet.  

I worked on knitting some of my thick wool hats as we drove along, and we enjoyed the rugged scenery of the U.P. of Michigan along the shorelines...

We then drove down to Bailey Park, which is a picnic park along the shore, but no camping allowed.  There is a Fishing Museum we are curious about, but it didn't open till 1p.m. ...so we will go back later.

http://www.menomineehistoricalsociety.org/westshorefishingmuseum.htm

Photos from their website

When we got back to the motorhome, we saw a nice post on Facebook:  

Gonna go swimming and get some well needed sun, with Jameson, Erin and chelsea. And we will visit grandma and grandpa Pfun while they're camping :)

Yayyyyyy  that meant we were gonna get some of our grandkiddos to come and visit us at the campground!   It's a 36 mile trip from Heather's to Erin's, and then another 40 miles from there up to here... so this is 77 miles one way for her... and over 150 round trip.  Just to come see us! awwwwwwww

They arrived around noon, with two sleeping kiddos in Erin's SUV to wake up.... 

and we had big hugs all around. 

  

The sand was the big attraction in our campsite, and soon we were littered with sand toys, buckets, shovels, and best of all, our dog-debarking flyswatter! 

Steveio hauled out the grill and we did up some burgers, and ate a lot of fresh fruit.  

Jameson enjoyed the salsa and chips more than his burger. 

With only one squirtgun, how can TWO kids have a decent water fight?  I hauled out my spritzing bottle for doing my hair, and Chelsea now had an even playing field against her opponent, Jameson! 

I can still hear the laughter and shrieks of delight as they squirted each other, the dogs, us and even the motorhome.  Yes, they decided they would *wash* Granfaddah's motorhome for him with their little squirters.  How cute is that? 

We donned swimsuits and headed to the beach...  Here is Chelsea showing off her bikini, and Jameson showing off his muscles.... my oh my, the beach scenario of male and female attractions never change do they?

The dead alewife population laying on the beach was diminished by the higher waves and more wind.  We didn't have to slap the kiddos hands from picking up dead fish. LOL   Sand and wind and water made for a delightful afternoon on the beach. This is the stuff Memories are Made Of !!!

Grandfaddah waded out to show them how shallow the bay was and it's all sandy bottom and no rocks.  What a great place to run and jump in the waves. 

After all the swimming was done, it was time for some cuddles in towels and blankets...

 They decided they had enough beach time, so we loaded up all the gear and toys from the beach and it was time to hit the playground!   Wheeeeeeeee

After the beach and playground, it was time to head on back to the camper and relax a bit (more for us grown-ups than the kiddos)  

We had ice cream cones and then I popped both of the little stinkers into the bathtub for a good cleanup.  Having a bathtub in a motorhome is a "must" for us, not only for washing dogs or taking a soak, but for scrubbing up grubby little grandkids too.  

Winding down, I brought out some coloring books and crayons, mainly to keep them on the ground tarp and out of the sand.  

Soon it was time for them to head on home... Their Daddies were done with work or projects and it was quite a drive back too.  We had hugs and kisses all around, and I sent the kiddos off with goodie bags of sugary treats to eat all the way home in the back seat of Erin's SUV... LOL    In two weeks we get Allegra for five days, so I think we will take her camping too.  Maybe Chelsea and Jameson can come and visit too, and we will have a real BEACH PARTY!

Steve and I took another walk around the campground, and chatted with a few folks here and there.  Our neighbor came over to share our campfire, and we sat out with some wine, my spinning wheel, and lawnchairs around the fire till late into the night.  It was a quiet night and the waves were the only sound we could hear in the darkness.  Ahhhhhh camping!   

Now on Sunday we are up and at em...  I slept on my wrist funny and now it hurts.  Dang, I wanted to get some knitting done, and maybe head to a sock-cranking gathering tomorrow.  With a bum wrist, not sure if I can do that?   

The humidity is creeping up to the mid 80's and the temp out there is 87 already at 10 am.  ACK!   We closed up the windows, fired up both of the AC units and are enjoying our morning INdoors.   Various folks around us are packing up and heading out before it gets too hot, I imagine.   Steveio is fiddling with a few maintenance things around the rig, and putting away some of the gear we won't be using anymore today while I write this blog in the cool AC interior.  I think MY job inside is easier... LOL 

About 5 or 6 campers stay here all summer.  The 6 month rate to stay here from May to Oct is 1,500.   That is less than $10 a day to stay here with 50amp service.  (no water, no sewer, you have to haul it over in a jug or bladder to your rig, and haul your tank dumpings in a rolling blue tote to the station down at the end of the park)   But the price is right for a beach front site on the Great Lakes! 

We might leave the dogs in the motorhome and head over to the fishing museum at 1pm to check that out.    No rush to go home, it's hotter there with NO AC going compared to the campground with 50 amp hookups.  Checkout time is 2pm but nobody is rushing to take our spots, so we can hang on a bit if we want. 

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