Sunny Sunday!

Oh my.... clear blue skies. 

High temps in the mid 70's. 

I think Spring might be here?  

It was time to catch up a few things 

around Our Old House 

now that the temps are cooperating.

I had this wonderful old enamel wash pan that was out in the garage when we bought the house.  I had a bunch of succulent plants that I had wintered over inside.  Time to put the two together.....   I think this will sit out on my cute red patio table as a centerpiece, but it can be moved if need be for meals outside.

We have signs of spring cropping up all around the house and yard.  Yup, all of the snow is gone and we are reveling in the warm rays of sunshine, chirping birds, and a few open windows on the house.

The flowers are all poking up their leaves around the house....  and soon we will be having tulips!

So far we have some star brites and daffodils (or narcissis?)

Duke and Ducky's new headstones we bought last year 

made it through the winter cold and didn't crack.

Steve was able to start working on the motorhome.  As you recall, we had a bad coolant leak all the way home from Florida.  Every 100 miles we had to stop and add gallons of water to the system.  He knew the leak was near the water pump, but not sure exactly until he could get under there and check.  Since the weather was finally cooperating, he got the water pump off.  Happily, it only looks like it's an O ring at a inlet hose connection that appears corroded, kinda hard and possibly the problem.  No leaks from the end of the shaft, so the seal is holding.  He will change the O rings, and probably the gasket too.  Better than replacing the entire waterpump at $500 or more!


Once that was done, we were ready to tackle the garage!  SPRING CLEANING!!!!  We cranked up the radio, got out the gloves and went to work.

Here are the "before" shots.....

He serviced the snow blower to stow it away for summer, and got the lawnmower ready for the upcoming season.  I sorted and cleaned and stacked and threw away a lot of stuff.  We called a metal recyling guy to come get some old pipes and fittings.  Chilton is not having their annual bulky item pickup this year, so we would have to dispose of everything ourselves.

I have a large number of shipping boxes stacked up, as well as clutter and junk and things that have accumulated over the last three and half years in this house. We started out with a clean garage back then.  What happened? 

We brought out our supervisor and district manager to check up on us.  They cracked the whip and told us to get that clutter cleaned up and find their TOYS!!!

We managed to locate their frisbees, tennis balls, tie out ropes and outdoor doggie dishes.  Lucky dogs!   We even set up the lawn chairs for a coffee break and tossed the ball for them a few times.  Happy dogs.


It didn't take too long....

Steve erected my new shelves over in the far corner of the garage for organizing my shipping boxes.  They are made from an old set of shelves that had been down in the root cellar room of the house. The unneeded shelves were over on the far left and he took them down.  (we kept the shelves on the right for my canning jars)  I love the old stone and brick walls in our basement.

Soooo why am I blathering on and on about some stupid shelves?  Well... because they have a history connected with the house and the family that lived here for four generations.

The boards are from a piano packing crate from many many years ago....   probably salvaged after the family bought this piano in this photo below.  The company is a local business just down the block where the piano was shipped to.  How cool is that?  Here is young Joan Kopf Baldock at the piano.

 And here is George Baldock Jr. along with his sister Joan at the piano. 

This room is now my Loom Room for my studio.  

The piano is gone, but the crate remained in the basement,

recycled as shelves all these years. 

Now it's getting a new use out in the garage, 

nailed up in the corner to organize my shipping boxes! 

and... before you know it,

 the garage was clean! 

The kids gave Steve some gift cards for his upcoming birthday this Thursday,  so he is going to head to Home Depot and pick out some new bench building materials and legs and supports to make his work area spiffy. He has to have a place to hang out once he retires, right? 

My last project involves something I came across a year ago....  and now I will finish it up. 

Background story:

 20 years ago, I owned a cool old English Tudor home in Green Bay. 

It was a two family home, which I had an apartment in the upstairs for rental income.  I loved this house with it's old original woodwork, classic charm, and style that I have come to appreciate in older homes.  I used to sell real estate, and this type of home excited me, rather than cookie cutter boxes in rows and rows in new developments.  But I digress.... 

This is when I first met Steve.   He built me a wonderful birdhouse to match my house.... and I just loved it.  What a sweet thing for a guy to do.  He lived on a very very tight budget while we dated.  Many of the gifts he bestowed on me were handmade.  So Precious!   (plus he got a crew of guys together to replace my roof, but that is another story) 

When I sold the house 2 years later (because we built our new home together up in Oconto)  I left the birdhouse behind in the yard, thinking it belonged with the house.  Steve said he would build me a new birdhouse, and leave this one for the new owners.

Last year, I was heading up to Green Bay for a doc appointment, and had extra time to drive around.  As I was driving past my old house, I thought I would stop and take a few pics.  A renting tenant lady stuck her head out the window and asked if she could help me?  I told her I was just snapping a few pics because I used to live there.  She came out to chat a bit.  We had a nice visit, and I mentioned a few queries if the backyard was still the same, with my gazebo I built, the trees I planted, and the birdhouse Steve made.  The birdhouse can be seen in the foreground in this pic from long ago. 

She said "funny you should mention that birdhouse... my son just bumped into it last week, and the post was rotted down at the ground level.  So it fell over!  I put it in the garage and notified the landlord.  He said it was okay to toss it out because the roof broke.  I had missed putting it out for garbage pick up this morning so it's still laying the garage! Do you want it?" 

I replied:

"DO I WANT IT????  OF COURSE!!!!"  

I loaded it up in the trunk of the car and went home with a treasure more precious to me than anything I could think of!  Here is a video clip of when I got it home and notified Steve that I had something in my trunk: 

I took the birdhouse yesterday and repaired the broken roof pieces.  Then I cleaned it up in the afternoon and let it dry.

Here it is all scrubbed up

I am not going to put it back outside. 

I am going to keep it indoors, probably out in our front porch.

To look at it. Smile. Remember. 

Now I have to decide if I want to repaint all the faded details,

 making it all spiffy and good looking? 

 Or should I just seal it in well with poly

 and keep it in it's original paint to preserve the memory? 

What would you do? 

Small Town Firemen Fun

Every year, our small town starts off the wave of summer festivals with a big Brat Fry hosted by the Chilton Fire Department.  (Brats as in bratwurst, sausages grilled and put on a bun, not unruly kids!)

We invited our kids and grandkids to join us for the event.  Little Allegra and Mason were able to come with our son Dan and wife Heather.  Also daughter Erin and husband Waylen were able to come too.  Daughter Heather and soninlaw Jesse were at home moving furniture back into their house.  A waterleak damage waylaid their plans....  because a defective valve on their dishwasher ruined their entire hardwood floor....  and its now repaired by the insurance company.

We had a little backyard cookout with the family....

Grandpa manned the grill,

 and we had a nice time together before heading over to the festival. 

The kids took some toys outside to entertain themselves 

while the grownups gabbed and caught up on things. 

The fire department is within walking distance from our house.  We joined in with ice cream, pitchers of beer and enjoyed the live music.  I nabbed our little neighbor boy to snap this pic of all of us together. We chose an outside picnic table away from some of the louder noise inside....

Before the evening rock band started, I took Allegra and Mason for a walk about town.  They had to explore the city's "sculpture" and also check out the canon in front of City Hall.

Our son Dan used to play baseball with the RPM band's bass guitarist.  At one point in the evening, he gave our granddaughter Allegra an LED tambourine, which TOTALLY made her night!!!  What a Rock Star!

We had good time with the music and family...

we bought a lot of raffle tickets and hope to win something! 

We danced and laughed and had fun.... Here is a little video clip:

It was quite a busy event, with a lot of neighbors and friends filling inside the firehall.  All of the firetrucks were lined up out back but the kids were not allowed to climb on them like other years. Sigh.  But I am very glad we had a nice day for the festival, because last year it was cold, wet, windy and I think with a few snowflakes thrown in!  This year it was full of people, both inside....

and out! 

We toddled on home with the grandkids about 10 pm, and their parents came back a while later.  We also had some neighbors stop by afterwards with their dogs, so it was a well-rounded evening of family, friends and fun!

Today it might hit 74 degrees!!!!  

We are thinking of yard work and relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. 

Camphost Schedule Filled and Dance Recital

The 2016 Camphost Roster is complete at High Cliff State Park.  Steve and I are the Camphost Coordinators and we interview, check references and assign the months for the camphosts.  Eash spring, we also conduct an orientation and furnish a meal with the event. Last night was the night to do so.....  but I played hooky and went to our grandddaughter's dance recital instead!  LOL

The camphosts at High Cliff sign up for one month long stints. Due to such stringent budget cuts each year in the park finances, the camphosts are greatly needed and so appreciated!  In return for 20 hours total combined work hours per week, the camphost couples are given a free campsite with 50 amp and water.

• Their duties are to mainly to be an ambassador to the park and assist the patrons.  
• They hand out information, be the "eyes and ears" of happenings in the park to report to rangers, and be there in case of emergency to call on the rangers or sheriff.  
• They are furnished with tools, first aid equipment, a weather radio, a cell phone, a 4x4 ATV vehicle and vests with badges. 
• The only physical "work" type duties are to pick up any trash they see out and about, and to clean out the firepits and grills in the picnic areas. 112 regular campsites and 8 group campsites.
• They can help out if the maintenance guys need an extra hand for projects.   
• Being vigilant to any problems, but all confrontations with campers are done by the rangers, not the camphosts.  
• (NOTE\- there is NO bathroom cleaning involved) 

It's quite a wonderful gig, and we have a list of folks waiting to get a turn to do the job in case of a mid-month vacancy due to medical or family emergency.

We have some of the same people volunteering to come back each year, they must like it enough to come back.  We try to treat them right, from the get-go.  Having the orientation meeting is great for the newcomers to meet the seasoned camphosts, and also for everyone to catch up on the newest park changes.  Everyone passes a background check and is trained on using the ATV and tools.

I enjoy doing the meetings, so during the day, I prepared the main food, (baked spiral ham, calico beans and a tray of brownies) .... and others brought pot luck side dishes.

I popped the spiral ham in a crock pot with Sprite soda and brown sugar..

here is a tray of chewy chunk brownies with walnuts

and a crock pot of my famous Calico Beans! 

For the calico beans, here is the recipe: 

 CALICO BEANS

**warning** I am a dumper kind of cook, not a precise recipe person!!!

First, brown up some ground beef, bout half a pound, and chopped onion, and drain. Then either fry up about 4 strips of bacon, and cut or break into small pieces.  Or use those great bags or small jars of Hormel real bacon bits already made up! 

Now dump that and all this into a crock pot:

1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans
1 can butter beans
a big squirt of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
dollop of molasses
squirt of steak sauce
double squirt of BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Rays)

season to taste
you can heat it up quick on the stove or
let it go a few hours on the slow cooker
yummmmmmmmm
some folks add grape jelly...
some folks add mustard...
some folks add vinegar...

I loaded up the foods in a big tote, and sent them off with Steveio to bring back to work for the camphost meeting.  I heard it went well, and they covered a lot of topics and also toured the new floor that was poured in the pavilion.

I hopped in the car and headed up to Green Bay to watch my ballerina girl at her dance recital.

Allegra has been in dance for a couple years now, and is only six years old and in kindergarten.  She is the tallest gal front and center in the group.  I am a bit frustrated with the video because she is right under a spot light so she is mostly lit up white... and out of focus.  The other girls are on each side are under lesser lights, and you can see the colors and sparkles of their costumes much better.

Allegras Third Dance of the Recital

(this link will lead you to a Facebook video on my page,

you don't have to be a Facebook subscriber to see it)

I am glad her costume stayed on and she didn't have any "wardrobe malfunctions" because it had been ill-fitting when they first ordered it.  Grandma to the rescue with her sewing skills, and I altered the costume over Easter vacation to get it to fit correctly.  I am pleased that it stayed put and didn't fall off her when she was dancing!

We posed for pics with all the family members, and then later went to her choice of restaurants for a meal out... Culvers.   It was such a great evening with my graceful ballerina, Allegra Grace!

Today the sun is shining, the snow has melted (mostly) and the spring flowers are blooming in the beds on the side of the house. SPRING is on the way!  They are promising temps in the low 70's this weekend.  We are going to the Chilton Fireman's Brat Fry, complete with live music, beer, prizes and neighbors.... some of our kids and grandkids are coming too!~  They are allowed to climb on firetrucks, try on firefighters gear and talk to real firemen.  I will take pics... of course! 

Getting Back on Track but Cancer Strikes Our Family Again

Yes, it's sad... after just losing both our father and step father, cancer has again struck another family member.  As we go through this, with support and love for our family, we are asking for prayers and kind thoughts.  

Steve's family has also had too many family members suffer with this horrible disease, and has lost some of them too.  It has been a shocking time for Steve and I, and for the members of both of our families.

Mom is adjusting well to the loss of Lowell, and we are in contact multiple times a day via computer, chats, email and phone.  I am sure it's hard for her to get used to being alone, cooking for one, and filling her days with things to do.  She is doing well, organizing her craft stuff, and handling the rest of the details that need to be done when one loses your spouse.  I am so proud of her for stepping up and coping so well at age of 77.


On one bright note... we have something positive to look forward to!  Our oldest daughter and husband have announced the forthcoming new arrival!   Sometime in November we will be greeting our seventh grandchild!

Now, isn't he or she extremely handsome, beautiful,

educationally advanced and spectacular? 

*just like ALL of our grandchildren???*

Since our coming home from Florida a few weeks ago, we have been getting back on track at home.  With multiple obligations slated for Steve's work schedule and our family gatherings, we are trying to get the repairs completed on the motorhome too.  We need to fix the waterpump seal leak and replace the clips on the alternator.  Both projects require getting out on the ground underneath the motorhome to work on it.  The only problem is that the weather isn't cooperating!

FIVE times since we got home, we have woken up to ***S*N*O*W***~~~~  

The weatherman is promising warmer weather this week, and hopefully encouraging Spring to make it's appearance? After basking in the 80+ degree days in Florida a few weeks ago, this wet heavy icky frozen Wisconsin has been kinda hard to deal with.

My flowers are poking up their feeble leaves along the house on the south side.   I carefully covered all of the tulips, daffodils and crocus to shelter them for the first two snow storms because I knew in advance.  The last few snowfalls were more of a "surprise" so they didn't get covered.  I hope they all survive.


I have been working on customer's orders for rugs that I had put aside while we were gone.  Got a few orders completed and shipped out, and working on a few more.

My Newcomb Studio loom needed a front take up lever on the front beam  The loom had come to me without a take-up lever.  Until Steve could make me one, I had to either borrow the one from the other Newcomb or use a "strap wrench" for taking oil filters off cars!   Finally, he took off the other one, matched up the materials to make a new one, and installed it last night for me!!!!

 Back in business without having to swap levers from loom to loom just to weave.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to babysit for a couple grandtots.  It was so good to fill the house with childish laughter and squeals of delight.  We put the kiddos to work with projects and baking tasks and positive attention.  It was a great time....

Making Auntie Lois's banana bread recipe:

Grandpa Pfun attended Chelsea's Hair Salon

Grandpa also attended their medical clinic.... 

using our blood pressure monitor and oxygen sensor, 

they put Grandpa through a full medical checkup.  He passed. 

Any task we ask of them, at this age, they gladly join in and help. 

 They helped me work on this quilt, and also to finish up these rugs....

With the arrival of spring, we have a lot of projects in mind to get done around here. If the weather cooperates, we can perhaps start a few things this weekend.  

Tonight Steve is going to lead the orientation for the camphosts we have lined up for the park this season. I am cooking up a meal to serve out of crock pots to the group of volunteers before the meeting starts.  But then.....  I am going to "play hooky" on the meeting and head up to Green Bay.  Granddaughter Allegra is having her dance recital, and if you ask me, that is WAY more important.