Copperfest and Father's Day preparations

This past weekend, our little town of Oconto had a fun festival called Copperfest.  The many events were full of family fun, with a parade, contests, live music, games, rides and a multitude of happenings.

We went into town to watch the parade, joining up with the grandkids near Erin and Mark's house, just one block off Main Street.   Heather brought Jameson (Jesse had to work)  but we were missing Dan and Heather and Allegra as they had other plans for the day.    We loaded Chelsea and Jameson into the strollers....

The parade was wonderful with lots of candy being thrown, and the kids all sat out on the brightly woven blankets we brought them back from Mexico last winter.  So glad to see them being used in the manner they were intended for--- picnics, parades and in the car for emergency use!

All the fun stuff like fire engines, candy, clowns and horses...   

Chelsea was so excited to see a marching band and loud music

 After an hour, the parade was done, 

and we walked back to Erin and Mark's house for a cookout. 

This photo Heather took brings joy to my heart---  

Steve had entered the local horseshoe contest with a co-worker, Bill.  They threw quite a few games while we wandered the grounds, listening to the bands and enjoying some funnel cakes, cheesecake on a stick and other delectable delights.

Look at that form... that style... that grace... that finesse!   (but they didn't win) 

We shopped the vendors of junk, Heather bought some beaded jewelry, Erin found a cute sundress, and I bought magic markers and paint brushes.  The grandkids watched a comedy act while sitting on some bleachers.

 At one point, Jameson reached over and impulsively hugged his little cousin, and I happened to have the camera ready!  How cute is that?

Later on in the evening, we took the grandkiddos back to our house for an overnight, letting the parents do their band listening and drinking and partying all within walking distance back to their house.  We are getting too old for that, so we opted to be the babysitters instead.  LOL 

The grandkids zonked out quickly after all that fresh air, excitement and festivities.   We had a lovely morning with monkeys jumping on our bed and having an all around Good Grandchild Snuggle! 

(not a very good quality shot with a cell phone camera, but you get the idea....)

After returning the grandkids to their parents on Sunday, it was time to start clearing out my things from the motorhome.  I felt like I was MOVING!   I was clearing out all my "girlie things" to make room for more "guy things" .  Out went the knitting baskets, the spinning wheel,  the basket of curling irons, hair spray, jewelry box and silky bathrobe hanging on the hook.  

Steveio will be using the motorhome for his annual Father/Son fishing trip this week.  They will be gone Thursday through Sunday and use our motorhome to travel, cook, play cards and maybe do a little fishing?   His dad and two brothers come along to do this every year as a Father's Day present to their father.  We then loaded the motorhome up with groceries and fishing gear, and Pete is bringing the beer and the boat.

I will have four days of weaving, spinning, knitting and maybe a gal pal coming up from Tennessee if all works out in the planning.   Then next week, some RV friends from St. Louis are coming up to spend time in our driveway to tour the Green Bay area, and later in the week we will all go camping together somewhere further north!

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Oh, speaking of Father's Day .....  Steveio RUINED the surprise of what I was getting him:

See..... Steveio has wanted this thing called an "Extend-a-Stay" device for our motorhome. It enables you to add an extra propane tank if your main big built-in tank on a motorhome is running down.  If you are staying in one spot, you don't have to move the whole motorhome to go fill the tank up.  You can use an external tank to extend your stay. Thus the name...     

It runs in the $80-90 range

But I saw one on Ebay, new in the box. Seems that the seller erroneously bought it thinking it was the "Extend-a-Flow" for travel trailers, so it didn't work for his purpose and he was selling it.    I bid on it 20 minutes before the auction ended for $18.  I was the top bidder.  I was doing this bidding from my laptop down in the loom room. 

Little did I know, but Steve was on HIS laptop up in the livingroom.  He also saw it on Ebay and logged in under my account (he doesn't have one and usually logs in as GUEST)  and he places a bid on it too!!!!  Luckily, Ebay doesn't up the bid when you are already the highest bidder...   he didn't even realize that I was ALREADY bidding on it!   LOL    

And I had NO idea he was even on the computer, much less on Ebay, much less using MY account instead of GUEST.  He has never, ever bid on Ebay before and this was his very first time, and he was using MY account to boot!  (Nor does he have a Paypal account to pay for it?)

Ten minutes before the auction is up, I try to check on my status while down on my laptop in the loom room.  Strangely,  Ebay won't let me in......   (I didn't know it was because he was logged in upstairs)  and I fiddled and fiddled with Ebay and could not get logged in...    But then in 5 more minutes I get an email from Ebay in my inbox saying I won the auction for $18.    Good... nobody outbid me.  Wheeeee

I come upstairs and Steveio says to me:   "Guess what?  I just won an Extend-a-Stay on Ebay just now for $18!!!"  

ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So I had to explain that no, he didn't win it.   

I did.

And it was supposed to be saved for his Father's Day Present! 

And~~~~ he got a lecture about buying something on Ebay using my account

without even knowing if I had enough money in my Paypal account to even pay for it.

I guess it's time to change my Ebay password, huh?

Motorhome Repairs -- Spring planting around the yard --- Copperfest

First up--- motorhome repairs and modifications:

On my last blog, I showed a few pics of the broken top part of the frame where our shocks mount in the front of our motorhome.  The location of the broken part on the motorhome was right next to the diesel tank, so welding it in place was not a good option.

Steve was able to remove both broken pieces now with the help of some WD-40.   Yes, fellow RVer Jim mentioned PBBlaster.. it's GREAT stuff, but we didn't have any on hand.  Have to add that to the shopping list to Fleet Farm this weekend I guess!

Anyhow, he was able to get both parts off so he could weld up the break and also reinforce it with some triangular gussets.   Here are the pics of the finished piece and he even painted it up with rust protection paint.  He looked close at the same mount on the passenger side, and it appears as if it has already been reinforced, perhaps by the previous owner?

Here is Steve's lovely weld job and the two new triangles for reinforcement:

So the rig will be ready to roll safely for Steve's upcoming Father/Son fishing trip next weekend.  

He and his brothers take his dad each year for an extended weekend fishing up north.  

Second----  His next project up on deck is the new water pump and accumulator pressure tank to install on the motorhome.   I know I posted pics of this before, but now he is starting to work on it!   He bought a fancy schmancy heavy duty marine water pump called a PAR from Jabsco.  He is figuring out a mounting process with the new accumulator tank to make it removable for winterization.  

So instead of mounting it permanently to the frame underneath, he mounted it in a removable 5 gallon bucket!   He cut access holes in each side of the bucket for the line IN and line OUT.  Now it won't tip over, and does not get mounted permenantly either.  When it comes time to winterize, he can simply remove the tank and screw the two lines together with an adapter piece of pipe fitting.    

The new water pump will replace the old one, which still works just fine.  You know guys... the "bigger is better" theory.  The old pump will remain with the rig and be used to pump in water in emergency methods from a bucket or bladder if we are boondocking and don't want to move to refill the water tank.

So that is about it for now on the motorhome repairs....



On to springtime!  Our house is located in the far northern area of Wisconsin where Spring is finally arriving.  It is finally past the frost warnings of last week, and safe now for outdoor planting.   Yesterday I stopped at the little greenhouse called The Garden Spot near our home and stocked up on flowers and tomato plants.  

I put in 8 tomato plants (4 Beefsteak, 4 Early Girl)  in pots on the deck.  I usually plant them along the back side of the garage.  Since we ground the varnish off the garage logs 2 years ago, the dirt over there seems contaminated and won't grow them nice anymore.  Last year's plants were a complete flop!  We were going to dig up that dirt and replace it with new garden soil, but never got that far yet.  I think pots are good as I can move them around now.

I can almost taste the home grown 'maters right now!!!

The four hanging bags are looking a bit skimpy as they are planted with petunias with big thick ruffled blooms, but they will fill in fast and be full, lush and lovely hanging on all four corners of the gazebo.

(the fabric cover is off  the gazebo frame during this pic, 

we only put it on when we are sitting out there in the sun) 

I won a geranium as a door prize last month at an HCE meeting... so I added some red spikes and dusty miller to the pot by the garage door.   On the side deck, I added a planter with pink and blue wishbone flowers. They will soon be cascading over the edges and be a lovely greeting at the doorway to the house.

The white lilacs on the corner of the garage are in full bloom.. and the Japanese lilac bush by the side door is just sooo fragrant and thick with blossoms!   These blooms last for weeks on end, much longer than the traditional lilacs we have along the east border of the yard.  That Japanese lilac bush was a housewarming present from Steve's brother, Pete, way back when we built the house.

My bleeding hearts on the east side of the house are just huge in their glory.

Little granddaughter Allegra gave me this yellow begonia for Mother's Day, 

and I planted it in the doggie planter for out on the deck.

The grandkids love that doggie, you pat it's head or tail and 

it's are on springs so they BOUNCE up and down! 

   

I have my favorite coleus growing in between clumps of hostas along the sidewalk by the garage.

This strain I have kept going from cuttings and plantings for many years, wintering them indoors,  

all started by a cutting I got from my friend, Connie, from her house wayyy back in Green Bay

Our next door neighbors just got a new lawn tractor, and Mike had to grab Amber for a little ride around the yard... how cute is that?

Notice the field in the background has only recently been plowed by the farmer down the road.  With all the rain we had this spring, the farmers have not been able to get in the fields till this week.  No "knee high by fourth of July" for that cornfield, that is for sure.  I think he just planted it yesterday.


So spring is in the air... and although we had a few days of sweltering weather, we are back to normal springtime temps again.  Today is rainy and only 48 degrees.   The humidity is at 87%   Ewwwwwww

This weekend is the local Copperfest Celebration in Oconto.   Heather is bringing up grandson Jameson in time for the parade, and we will grill out and hang there for the day. Grandkids Chelsea and Jameson will love the parade and get lots of candy they throw.  Allegra isn't able to come this year, she is going to the Bay Beach Animal Sanctuary tomorrow instead.  We will miss her smiling face!

I took this excerpt about Copperfest from the Chamber of Commerce website:

Oconto has a rich historical past, mainly because of its location along the west shore of the waters of Green Bay.

Approximately 5000 years ago an archaic people, later called the Copper Culture, hunted, fished, and buried their dead on the banks of the Oconto River near the bay. The French Canadians came here in the 1600's to trade for the fur of beaver, muskrat and fox, canoeing by way of Mackinac and down the bay.

Early settlers arrived by steam powered boats traveling on the Great Lakes. Of those, a Norwegian community grew on the bay shore and began fishing commercially, sending barrels of salted herring, whitefish, and trout to eastern markets.

Beginning in the 1850's lumbering was the primary focus. Logs were floated down the Oconto River where they were sawed into lumber at one of seven mills in Oconto and shipped out by boat to large growing cities on Lake Michigan.

Today we tend to rely on highway vehicles to carry passengers and cargo. The rivers, lakes, and bay fulfill the recreational needs of fishing boats, canoes, pontoons, kayaks, sail and pleasure boats. We still hunt, fish, snowshoe and ski just as people did long ago.

The city of Oconto has thirty-three structures on the National Register of Historic Places. A visitor can take a self-guided tour of the city, walk the Historic West Main Street District, and in the summer tour the 1890's home of wealthy George Beyer located on Park Avenue.

Sooooo any excuse for a celebration, the whole town gets into Party Mode and has a great time!  In town, there is always a lot going on:

Featured Events are Amateur Lumberjack Competition, Truck Pulls, Adult Horseshoe Tournament, Mens, Womens and Youth Flag Football Tournament. Hamburger Eating and Pie Eating Contests.  Regional Wrist Wrestling Competition.  Pie and Ice Cream Social.  Fireworks.  Childrens Inflatables games, Trout Pond, Street Market. Poker Paddle Run, Duck Races and more.  Entertainment featuring Kenny Ahern, T. Texas Terry, Randy Petersen, Mr. Billy, Jay Merline.  Music performed by Ravyn, Vic Ferrari, Gringos, Rivertown, Sonic Circus, Rocker, Midpoint and Aaron Socha

For more information on the Copper Culture People:

Copper Culture State Park, Oconto, Wisconsin

Steve is entering the horseshoe tournament at 1pm.  Later there are street dances, fireworks and probably babysitting for me and Granfaddah so the parents can go out on the town?  Sounds like a good weekend to me!

At home post --- motorhome repair, heat and Thermocells

Whew .....  It sure has been scorching hot weather around the country this week.  Our Wisconsin weather has been hot, humid, muggy and stormy.   I sure appreciated the dry air of the desert last winter during our travels.  With my lung condition, it was a huge relief to breathe out there without feeling like I have two 20 pound bags of flour sitting on my chest!   Not so here in Wisconsin this spring, it's been just horrid.  

The heat indexes have been over 100 and I have been holed up in the cool loom room and guest room with the portable AC unit on full blast down there.    We don't even try to cool the main floor and loft, as the dark log house attracts wayyy too much heat on the logs from the sunshine.  While it is nice in the winter to  have the logs absorb the heat and retain it longer, in the summer this is not a good thing.  Due to the construction, we lack ductwork in the walls which means no central air.  Having crankout style windows limits the use of window AC units.  So we have this portable guy that can be rolled around, and vented out patio doors with the plastic flange. It cools the lower level quite well, but not large enough for the whole house if we put it on the main floor. 

This morning we woke up to 54 degrees and much cooler.  The humidity broke and it might not even get over 70 today which is just fine with me.  I feel re-energized and able to get some things done! 

Not sure about going camping this weekend.  There is a big celebration in our small town called Copperfest, and also the motorhome is broke.  Yes... broke! 

We noticed the ride was getting rougher and we could hear a rattling sound, thinking it was our shocks that are only 11 months old.  So once we got home, Steveio turned the tires way to one side so he could look underneath.  He removed the passenger side shock and checked it out.  Fine.  Then he checked on the driver's side and it turns out the whole part of the frame that the upper portion bolt onto is broken in two!   ARGGGHHH   

It's right next to the diesel tank, so welding it on the rig is out of the question.  But it is just bolted into place.  Remember, our motorhome is 15 years old, so removing rusty original bolts and nuts are a problem.  Steveio managed to get one part off easily and you could see part of the break was older and only the final inch or so to the left side in the pics below is a new fresh break.  So it must have been cracked for a while, and now just broke clean through.   

The other portion was stuck on tight and even with the air tools he could not get it off.  So he sprayed it down good with WD-40 and let it set overnight.  Luckily yesterday (in that horrible heat) he was able to get that part off now too.  He is taking it to work today to weld it up during his lunch hour.  He will reinforce the area with an additional gusset.  I am so thankful he is able to do all these repairs--- what a guy! 

Besides all of the thick winter hats I have been hand knitting, 

I got a few rugs done and off the looms this week. 

Plus I have been reorganizing and cleaning through my stash and supplies. We have company coming next weekend and I wanted to spruce things up.  It was a nice way to spend my time downstairs while hiding out from the heat.  LOL 

My RV buddy Dee was talking about how bad the mosquitos are where she is visiting up in New York State.   So I reminded her about the Thermocells we use here in Wisconsin.   This spring with all the rain, we have a BUMPER CROP OF SKEETERS!    We use the Thermocells out on the back deck, out next to Steve when was working on the rig, or out when I am working in the flower beds.   

Here is a repeat of a blog post I did about them a couple years ago now: 

THERMOCELLS:

Now this one is gonna sound like a commercial… but honestly, in Wisconsin with the mosquitoes being our national bird, this new device is totally necessary!!!  We use them at home on our back deck overlooking the river, and have them in the camper for when we are in the woods.  GREAT for the grandkids, we don’t have to slather on icky poisonous repellant lotions or sprays on their soft skin and tiny hands and fingers…  you know how babies put everything in their mouths!  These units are set on the endtable, out of reach, and all the mosquitos are gone!

First time we used them, we were sitting out at a lake where everyone else was huddling inside or dashing to the outhouse, flailing their arms like windmills to beat off the skeeters.   The skeeters were awful, this was May, and they were attacking in droves. 

We were sitting in an area where you could virtually see the skeeters buzzing about 10 feet around us…  above us.. along side of us… but not daring to come near!  Our dogs even huddled closer once they realized the skeeters were not biting them when they laid by our chairs.   Soon folks were asking what those things were, and the next day, the nearest Walmart was a destination goal for all the folks who were camped near us.  They sold out about noon!  LOL

CAMPING- At our friends' cottage in the Nicolet National Forest

Our friends, Sharon and Fred, invited us to spend a weekend up at their family cottage.  We park our motorhome on their land which is located by the Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin.

Hey---- free camping!

Spring has finally come to the northwoods... our leaves are finally out, and fresh greens of newly opened leaves with a variety of colors of the deep pines, the white birches and the light greens of the shrubs and ground covers.   It's a palette of forest colors of Wisconsin Springtime!

We loaded up the rig and headed up Friday as soon as Steve was done with work.  Sharon and Fred have a dog named Brandie, so our two doggers were happy to have a friend to visit as well.

We pulled in and got set up in no time flat....  of course we have been here before and know just where to park and we are at home.  The nice thing about a motorhome is that we can pull in, turn it off, and we are basically done setitng up.  We later put down the hydraulic jacks and took out the awning but that is an *after* thing.

First we hopped in Sharon and Fred's truck and headed out for fish fry....  the old Waubee Lodge burned down and it's been rebuilt now in a much nicer log building.  It has a great location in Lakewood on Waubee Lake.

http://www.waubeelodge.com/

We had our cocktails and dinner out on the deck overlooking the lake... and decided on the seafood buffet which was very filling!  haha   I mostly enjoyed the clam strips, shrimp and german potatoe salad.  After dinner, we walked along the shoreline of the lake.  What a pleasant evening with very few bugs--- the lake was smooth as glass, and not yet filled with tourists on jet skis, racing boats or noisy water toys.  Afterall, the ice just went off these lakes a few weeks ago and that water is still very very cold! 

The decor of Waubee Lodge is very rustic, and we loved the honey warm gold of the logs.  We felt right at home!  I loved these two little coons on a wall hanging.  The inside diners were surrounding the big aquarium or next to the huge fireplace. 

It was a very pleasant evening, and we went to bed with open windows (screens on of course for the skeeters which are as big as hummingbirds right now)   and we slept to the soft tunes of the crickets in the woods.  Ahhhhhhh   This is the first really warm enough weekend to sleep with open windows this spring.

In the morning, the sun was shining and the weatherman said it was going to be a very warm day in Northern Wisconsin... up to 90 and pretty humid too.   So out came the lawn chairs and not much more of any type of activity took place!   ......   the dogs lapped at the water bowl and laid in the shade too.

As we sat around, I was working on some new projects.... knit hats.  Using four different sized rings called Knifty Knitters, I was making some hats from various scrap yarns I had on hand.  What fun!   You don't need to know how to knit, you just wrap the yarns around the pegs two rounds, and then lift one loop up and over the other loop and off the peg.  There ya go, it just knit a stitch for you!~    I got five hats done over the course of the weekend.  What a lazy way to relax in a chaise lounge and keep the fingers busy too.

Saturday evening we put the guys in charge of the grill for supper.  They had to imbibe on a few cocktails first, and then they were ready to cook!   LOL  The menu was marinated veggies, sliced potato packets and some grilled chicken breasts.  Yummmmm Everything tastes better when cooked outside.

We sat up gabbing till our eyes would not stay open, and again went to sleep to the sounds of crickets out the open windows.   Nearby at the horse riding stables, there were some youngsters making some noise, we but we were so tired, it didnt' last long and we were fast asleep too.  

The morning shone through the trees and dappled sunshine spread across the road... it was less humid on Sunday morning and very pleasant.   I whipped up some of Steveio's Cinnamon Sticks ----

(his invention of unrolling the pre-made refrigerator cinnamon rolls 

and twisting them into sticks before baking-- 

no gooey middles and they bake faster too) 

It was just the kind of morning that you dream of when freezing in the middle of winter.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing and it was a lazy Sunday morning.  Sharon took me for a little ride in their big ATV called a side by side.  Duchess went along for the ride, and Duke stayed back with Brandie and the guys.

The guys fiddled with a few big boy toys and things, and Fred got the tractor going and loaded on their trailer to bring back home with them.  We decided to toss a few brats on the grill for lunch, and Sharon manned the kitchen in the cottage and whipped up some delicious chicken salad from our leftovers from the night before.

Fred, the Grill-Meister was tending the bratwurst 

(purchased from our local meat market, Melotte's Meats in Brookside, 

as we no longer buy Johnsonville brats... we boycott them---

who were a major contributor to Gubber Walker in Wisconsin) 

Long before we wanted to, it was time to start loading up and heading out again.  Towards home.  The weekend is over and it's time get back to the work-a-day world. 

We noticed on the ride that our front shocks (replaced only 12 months ago) are not operating properly.  We are going to have to take out the Bilstein shocks and check out which one is bad and have it replaced (they are under warrenty) before we take it out again on the road we think.  Sigh. 

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