Farmhouse Projects - Windows Fail, Matchsticks and our TV

Now what would these three things have to do with each other?

Nothing.

It's just three separate things I want to write about today.

Windows Fail:
Yesterday Steve was perusing the Facebook Marketplace ads as he is wont to do. Because we are always looking for building materials to improve our house. Being on a fixed retirement budget, every penny we can save is worthwhile.

We know that sometime soon we should be replacing windows on the house. He found a contractor with four used windows that were the right sizes for our home! They appeared to be very nice replacement windows with the multi-pane mullion grids sandwiched between the thermopane glass.  At the bargain price of $40 each, it was worth it to take a 60-mile jaunt one way to get them.

We set up a time to go there this morning. As soon as we gulped down our coffee, we hooked up our little trailer behind the Tracker, gathered a bunch of extra padded wool blanket pieces and strapping, and headed on out. Stopped at the ATM to pull out enough cash and then we hit the highway, anxious for a new acquisition to continue the improvements on our National Folk Farmhouse.

Upon our arrival, we were very dismayed to find out the windows were TAN! The photo very erroneously let them appear to be white. We didn't even think to consider to ask what the color of the windows were... and in all fairness, he didn't state any color in the description of his ad. They just looked white in the photos.

But when we got there,
they were definately tan/beige
and NOT white.

We turned away empty-handed. 

Dangnabbit.

But we made lemonade out of our lemons. We took a jaunt over to Sherwood and stocked up on a bunch of the good quality locally grown meats at Dick's Family Foods. We always shopped there when we lived in Chilton so it was convenient to hop on by and load up --- with a lot of good sale prices! More bang for the buck.

From there, we swung by Fleet Farm on our way home. Pops Pfundtner had given us a gift card for Christmas.  We were able to pick up some of our favorite Magnum Blue Mountain whole bean coffee from Jamaica. It's the only kind of coffee I like, and they are the only local place that carries it. We also grabbed a big bag of birdseed and Steve stocked up on some of his favorite Christmas chocolate sponge candy that was discounted after the holidays.

On our way back north up the highway, we swung into a new little shop that carries the Dobbers Pasties from Escanaba and Iron Mountain, Michigan. Being a transplanted Yooper,  these are in my opinion, some of the best pasties made in the U.P. of Michigan. They are beef, potatoes, rutabaga and onions wrapped up in a crust in the old Cornish England tradition.  We stocked up on six of those to bring home and put in freezer as well.

here is a link to their shop
on Hwy 41 and Lineville exit: 

http://oldeworldpastriesplus.com/

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The next thing I want to write about are matches. Long long ago when Steve was a lad, his family had this little cast iron matchstick holder by their fireplace in various homes as they moved around the state. A few years ago, as Steve's dad was preparing to move from Waupaca up to Sister Bay, and we were cleaning out the garage. Steve ran across this little matchstick holder laying out on a shelf in the cold garage. It was a little rusty but otherwise not really too worse for the wear. He asked if we could take it home with us. He cleaned off the rust, wire brushed it well, and I gave it two coats of flat black paint. I looked up the figurines on it and it said it's Venus and Cherubs.

I figured it was time to get it mounted in our new home, since we are now focusing on fixing up around the fireplace and hearth.

I took out a special blue tapcon screw which is designed to go into concrete. First, using a permanent black marker, I covered the blue head so it would appear black once it was screwed into the brick surface.

We figured out the best place for it and mounted it by the fireplace. It's really a decorative item because we are not going to light any wood burning fires in this fireplace in the near future. The chimney is questionable. We are going to convert it over later to a gas log fireplace. Steve got out his big hammer drill that is able to drill into cement, mortar, brick, etc.

I put some matches in the little compartment under the flip door, just for decoration. It's good to have a few real matches on hand to light candles in case of a power outage. Did you know that they no longer make "strike anywhere" matches anymore?   I actually have to hide a little piece of the graphite strike material from the box to be able to light a match.

The little top trough is made for the used matches until they cool off. How cute is that?

Bit by bit the livingroom is coming together. Maybe tomorrow Steve will finish the grout and trim on the fireplace hearth.  We set the leaded glass screen back in front of the fireplace doors now that the hearth tile mortar is dry.

~~~~~~~~

The third little household improvement we made today's was that we mounted our TV in the living room on a bracket on the wall. It used to set on a side table which was kind of in the way as we walked from the master bedroom out into the living room. Since I changed my mind on having my big brown ottoman down in the she shed, I wanted the ottoman back up in the living room for additional seating space.

I figured the ottoman would go nicely right where the side table had been. All we needed to do was mount the TV up on the wall on a bracket.

Using a level, and some drills and big lag screws, we soon had the bracket in place and mounted the TV.  This makes a lot more space when coming from the bedroom, and extra seating in the livingroom for grandkids etc.

I bought this piece of plastic housing to hide the cords between the TV leading down to the wall outlet and the cable inlet. Seems a waste to spend $10 on this 6 ft long plastic piece when I only needed about a two-foot length of it. I might figure out something else, or get Steve to make a little wooden cover piece that I can paint to match the wall. It can hide the power and cable wires. Then I will return this other long thing and get my money back. Every penny counts, you know.

 Now we can watch it comfortably from our chairs, or swivel it over towards the couch if we want to.  Once we cover the wires, it will be safer for the grandkids to sit on the ottoman.

Oh, after our grocery shopping today, I popped a big beef roast in the pressure cooker tonight. Steve peeled up taters and carrots that I added during the last 15 minutes. The house smells so good! There's enough left over to make a pot of stew tomorrow by adding some gravy and chopping up the potatoes carrots and leftover meat.

~~~~~~~~

Well --- Steve is watching the playoff games this evening on football, and I was working on a quilt. He likes hanging out in the she shed while I am doing my thing.  So do the dogs!

It's so comfortable to sew in the she shed and have all of my tools and materials right at hand.  I think what I especially enjoy the most is that I don't have to pack things up from the dining room table and put them away each evening to make room for the next day's meals... or make space for other activities. This room is all mine and I can leave things set up mid-way through a project.

This one is ready to be loaded on the quilting frame....

I also wanted to say we had a very nice visit yesterday was Steve's older brother Mark and his wife Ann. They were headed through on their way to pick up some logs from the U.P. of Michigan, and stopped to see our house. From there we went out for lunch together at Mickey Lu's BBQ in Marinette. What a treat!

The Rest of Christmas and a Family Treasure

I pooped out the other night while writing my blog. I only got up to writing about Friday and Saturday of our Christmas celebrations.  I was too tired to finish... so now I will try to catch up.

Sometimes I feel this blog is kinda like a diary of my own thoughts and family happenings, but other times it amazes me on how many people read my blog.  Did you know already today I have over 3,000 people looking at my blog?  And yesterday it was almost up to 3,000? It just totally boggles my mind for sure!

I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of you for coming here to see what I have to say, enjoy my photos, and leave comments about what I write.  I try to add a lot of motorhome renovations and projects around the house, and not gum it up too much with baby pics and doggie stuff!

~~~~~~~~~

OH well, on to Christmas!  For Christmas Eve, Steve and I planned a quiet evening at home. On our way back from Oconto, we popped into Festival Foods to get some of their fresh snow crab legs for our evening feast.  Yummmmm  Steveio steamed them up in our propane burner unit outside with the big steaming kettle. That keeps the smells and the excess moisture out of the house.

With soft Christmas Carols playing in the background, we sat down to a great meal with glasses of wine, good food, and wishes and plans for the upcoming year. Our conversation wandered from projects to do, places to see, working out the retirement budget, and of course how great our meal was together. It was great to sit back and unwind a bit after two days with our silly kids and energetic grandkids.  We did some pretty good damage to 3.5 pounds of crab legs for sure!

Christmas morning was exciting for the dogs, so things were not too quiet.  They unwrapped their own presents and little Binney had to tell us ALL about what Santa brought her.  Toys and doggie treats is all they wished for.  And they got it.  LOL

About 11 a.m. the patriarch of the Pfundtner Clan came over. Steve's dad drove over from Waupaca to spend some time with us and exchange presents.  It was so pleasant spending the morning with him and his companion, Millie, the springer spaniel he has trained for therapy dog visits to nursing homes.  We then hopped into his truck and drove on down to Belgium to take part in the Pfundtner Family Gathering at Steve's sister's house.

Wonderful food, family laughter, presents and fun stories...  it was a great way to finish off the Christmas holiday.  Dangnabbit I set down my phone when we came in and never took a single pic! We drove on back home as the weather was changing from rain to sleet!  Nervous about sending Steve's dad on home that last 45 miles or so to Waupaca... but he said he would be fine and call us when he arrived home safe and sound. He did and we slept peacefully that night.


I wanted to mention a Pfundtner Family Treasure that was recently bestowed on Steve.  If you remember, I was bestowed a special family heirloom a while back by Steve's dad:

http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2016/11/family-treasures.html

Now it was Steve's turn!

When he was a child, his parents had this little cast iron match holder device hanging by their fireplace in a couple of their homes, over the years. It moved from house to house with them. Steve always liked it. Recently, Steve noticed it laying out on the bench in the garage at this current home his dad has. It hadn't been mounted because they didn't have a fireplace.  It was just laying out on the bench in the garage.

His dad mentioned about having some guys come to work on his garage and do some tool organizing and storage solutions. Steve asked his father if he was ever going to need this little match holder, or plan to use it, or was it going to be tossed?  His dad gladly gave it to Steve!   

It was in need of a bit of rusty surface cleaning and a new coat of paint..... 

It is called a ''Venus and Cupid Match holder''

The new wooden matches go in the bottom compartment

and the spent used ones go in the top trough. 

Steve got to work on it yesterday.  He ground off the rust gently with a steel brush on his drill.... and he also took care of some of the rust on a rotating disk for my old Sunbeam stand mixer. Since he was going to be painting, I asked him to add a coat of paint to that, too.

We didn't want to drill holes into the lovely tiles around our fireplace. So we bought a roll of black super heavy duty exterior 3M double stick tape. It is made to adhere mail boxes to brick, so I think it will work for this.  It is rated to hold 25 pounds!  At $7.39 a roll, it better!

He measured carefully and used a level to get it just right..... 

ahhhhhhh looks great! 

We put wooden safety matches in it, just for looks. We really do not need the matches in it except maybe to light candles on the mantle. Our fireplace is gas log with electric igniter. I even burned some of the matches to put in the top trough to be even more realistic! 

Ahhhhh another Pfundtner Family Treasure 

to adorn ''Our Old House'' 

Tomorrow, technically, is Steve's last day of work!  He has been burning up vacation days since the 22nd until now. He said he is not retired yet, just on vacation!  hahahahhaaaaaaa

We will see what he calls himself after 4 p.m. tomorrow?