Another Weekend Around This Old House

We spent the entire weekend alternating between projects and relaxing and also watching a VERY tense Packer Game on tv today.  (overtime tie!)

Some of the projects around the house needed to get done.  First on Steve's list was wrapping all the hot water pipes in the basement with foam insulation, and then Steve stuffed some extra insulation in between the floor joists here and there where it needed it.  Now that the furnace is running (our temps were at 5 degrees this morning with wind chills below zero)  we did a few things to make the house more airtight.  Steve added some foam and insulation around the attic trap door, and around the edges of the upper door leading to the shaker porch.  No more drafts!

I spent some time down in my workshop in the basement.  I got another batch of sock machine weights dipped 3 coats in Tool Dip (rubberized coating)   They are one pound deep sea fishing weights that I order from a place out on the west coast.

Steve hammers down silver forks flat and bends over just the tips of the tines.  Then he drills a hole in the end of the handle.  From there, I add the weights with split key rings.  I sell them in sets of three to circular sockknitting machine people who use them for holding tension on the heels and toes as they knit.

Steve happened to find an old fashioned lock box unit for inside the door of the Munchkin toy closet. The old fashioned door knobs themselves were fine, but the inner workings (box) was broken.  He drilled out the old one and inserted the replacement... it needed a little bit of tweaking... and now the door shuts properly!

There has been a project on my mind for quite some time... so I got Steve to help me tackle this one.  The diningroom originally had a built-in hutch that we moved into my Loom Room when we bought the house.  The carpeting had been installed around that hutch, so after moving it, all that remained was the unfinished hardwood flooring underneath (YAY!  we know that we have a hardwood floor in our diningroom if we ever want to rip out the carpeting!)     Our new buffet sets in the same place, but it was kinda setting down in the open gap, and I didn't care for the looks of that.

The buffet is very, very heavy so Steve helped me put it on those sliders called "Moving Men" and we moved it up and out of the hardwood gap on the floor.   Those "Moving Men" are GREAT!   We have used them for so many things, now that we are not as young and strong as we used to be.  (grin grin)

Steve cut two boards for me that would fill in the gap, and I stained/poly'd them in the basement.  I only needed to stain the edges where it would show.   Once the boards dried, we carried them up and slid them into place, nicely filling up the gap!

AHHHHH that looks MUCH better now! 

Seeing as I had out my staining brushes, I also added a coat to this old clock.  Steve's dad had refinished it years ago, but it was more brown and satin finish to the wood.  I added a bit more reddish poly/stain and gave it a bit of a shine. I cleaned the pendulum disk and found out under the dull brown it was a lovely copper or bronze!   

It is now hanging in our foyer, but Steve forgot to get the key... so we have not wound it up yet.  We will be seeing Pa Pfundtner on Thanksgiving, so I hope we remember to ask him to bring the key to dinner!  LOL   

Also on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was the big Open House fiber event at Hidden Valley Woolen Mill and I brought out four baskets of inventory to be sold on commission in the shop. I had an array of quilted hot pads, woolen socks, and knit winter hats. 

Remember a couple blogs back I wrote about making felt 

from sheep wool at Hidden Valley in our guild meeting?  

Well, I took my sheet of felt I created and made this clutch purse and added it to the sale. 

Don't know if it sold or not till I talk to Carol tomorrow. 

During the very very tense Packer Game on tv today, 

Steve was sitting in his chair and hollaring at the television.  

I hung out in the dining room and set up the Janome sewing machine to do some quilting.

This is a kit from Nancy's Notions that had patterns for four different stained glass looking quilted wall hangings.  But there was only enough fabric in the kit to make two of them.  I had originally done the first two hangings from one of the patterns so they match.  They are hanging in my livingroom on each side of the big window.

I wanted to try out some of the other patterns in the kit.  I had some extra fabric to add to the leftovers from the first ones and I had bought two more rolls of the thin black bias tape to sew in between each colored section.  

Here are two more that I did today during the Packer Game.  

They still need the black binding around the edges. 

I am working on one more of the fourth pattern yet tonight, and might finish it up tomorrow.  I might hang one up behind Steve's chair on the other wall.  Then perhaps the other two will be runner mats on our endtables?  I didn't know when I made them what I would do with them , just that I wanted to make them.  LOL There are enough scraps now to make some matching coaster for the livingroom end tables. The ones we are using now I made for the motorhome and should go back out there.  


We have a busy week ahead of us...

Wednesday I am taking grandtot Jameson because he is off school and is coming to help me with a project.   Plus, he gets to spend the night!

Thursday we will take him along with us as we trek over to Waupaca, you know----  over the river and through the woods...  for Thanksgiving with Steve's family.  We will meet up with our kids there for the celebration.  Then Heather and Jesse will take Jameson home afterwards.  

Friday I am taking Chelsea and Clayton to watch them because their day care is closed for the Holiday weekend ... One of the busiest days of the shopping year for Erin's stores, so she has to work.  Plus it's hunting season so their daddy Mark will probably be in the woods.  We are keeping them overnight here too...

Saturday we will take those grandkids with us up to Green Bay to attend granddaughter Allegra's fourth birthday party!  Oh my.. four years old already???  Seemed like just yesterday--------  

Well, that's enough for tonight

heading to bed....

Nighty night! 

Dinner Party

On Saturday, we were lucky to have our friends, Sharon and Fred come to dinner!   And of course, they brought Brandie, their very well behaved yellow lab.  We have traveled in our RV's with Brandie and she has been pals with our two doggies for years now, and she is a very welcome guest in our new home.

Sharon and Fred wanted to come and check out our new digs, and brought us a bottle of wine for a housewarming present!   How nice was that?    We gave them the Grand Tour throughout the house, shared fun and stories and also angst on aging parents and care and concerns about them.

I popped a beef stew in the crockpot earlier in the day, so when it was time for dinner, we had it all done ahead of time.  Sharon brought a salad dish and a lovely red velvet cake for dessert!

I have added something to our kitchen accessories to make entertaining easier.  In going from the kitchen to the formal dining room, I am making multiple trips with dishes, food and clearing away.  So I was using a smaller tray from our motorhome, but it was not even big enough to set 2 plates on it, side by side.  That meant dishes were stacked on top of each other and gunky stuff from one plate was landing on the back of the other.  Plus carrying in the serving dishes, silverware, condiments, etc. was taking too many trips.  Ahhhh I would just buy a larger tray, right?

No go.  I looked around in Appleton at the stores, checked Goodwill and St. Vinnies, then even online for a larger serving tray.   I had hoped for a wooden one, and even moreso an unfinished one that I could stain to match my woodwork.  Then a thought came to mind.

Our fellow RVing buddies, Roger and Lila, had spent time with us out in the desert on our last vacation out west.  At that time, I had seen that Roger had made some lovely trays for Lila to sell at her beading workshops.  They were well-crafted and a great style.  I wrote to Roger to ask him to make one for me, only larger.  He is a fine woodworker and has done some amazing things with wood in their converted MCI bus.  He agreed to make me a tray!  

And here it is, finished by the woodworking artist himself, pictured in his woodshop out in Washington.  It is a very generous 16x24 size.

It arrived here last week, safe and sound---- all ready to be stained.  I carefully rubbed in the stain, and then coated with 2 coats of polyurethane.   Oh my it came out perfect!  Just gleaming and glorious, showing the wood grains to their utmost.

Because I consider this piece a work of art, I requested that Roger please sign and date the tray for me.  It can become a family heirloom in years to come, and the signature will provide provenance.  I covered it with clear tape while staining to preserve the signature.  

As for other projects, I had someone ask me to do a close up photo of how I made the wrought iron brackets into a paper towel holder on the bottom of my coffee station shelf.   Here is a photo showing a stained wooden dowel, some "candle cups" wooden ends that I glued on, and they set right into the openings on the wrought iron brackets.   The brackets were only a couple bucks at Menards (midwest chain home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes) .  The rod just slips into a paper towel roll, and sets into place on each of the openings.  The ends keep it from falling off and allows the rod and towel roll to rotate.  Easy peasy! 

Besides all of our house work, I am keeping up on my production of my recorded instructional DVD's for weaving and sockmachine knitting.  Also creating my sockknitting machine weights.  These are used in the circular sockknitting machines when attached to bent-over silver forks.  I buy one pound deep sea fishing weights, add a keychain ring, and dip them in rubber coating Tool Dip.  Down in the basement I have a little workarea all of my own.  It has an old bench and a vise and a cabinet for tools.  I drilled a piece of wood along the edge of the bench lined with screw heads to hang my weights as they dry after dipping.

My little work area is kinda cute, and has a large window facing south for daylight.  I have some old sawhorses set up for staining trim in the basement instead of out in the cold garage.  Here in the photo are some mop boards we hauled out of the garage attic to put in the kitchen.  Steve cut them all to size, and today I have to go give them one more coat of poly so he can nail them into place.

I know many of you are wondering when we will do some CAMPING!   Well, this poor little motorhome is wondering the same thing.   Don't it look cold and shivering in the Wisconsin Winter Weather? 

Don't worry.... we are planning to head out soon. 

 Just a few more details to finish up and we will get in some vacation time into the south.. 

somewhere warm!