She's a-going down!

November 29, 2006 (12:05pm)
40º F, Cold clouds, W wind 9 mph.

Good afternoon,

The temperature she goes down! Started out the day with the temperature over 50º F when I woke up and now it be a-fallin’. Supposed to keep falling too. Talking of getting more normal for the duration of the season I think. The west wind really drives through, since the humidity is rather high. The winds are supposed to pick and there is a possibility of snow coming too. Time will tell.

I have been adding insulation to the water supply line I repaired during the summer under the house. I have been leaving it open as long as I dared to let the soil dry out as much as possible. I added a layer of foam around the line, then covered it with some 1" rigid insulation about 16" wide, then a layer of fiberglass batt encapsulated in a plastic film, and finally with a 23" wide layer of double aluminum foil separated by a fixed airspace, over the whole works. I stapled the foil to a 1"x3" on each side to keep it in place and to provide a bit of an air space (maybe) under it. I will put a new vapor barrier down over the whole area. Hopefully that should solve the problem in the future. I also will wrap the line where it come up out of the soil to the house floor. Probably will build an over sized box around it from ridigid foam insulation, filled with encapsulated fiberglass and a foam wrap. I really don’t want to have anymore problems down there in the future. At least with the supply line. I do want to replace the rest of the water lines with PEX eventually too.

We staggered over to Shawano after Bible study yesterday. Leaving the house to go to church, the rain was really pouring and the wind was up. Decided it probably would not me a good day to go, as we also had other stops to make. I really didn’t want to drive in a strong crosswind and get wet between stores. I was over ruled and Margriet had a bunch of things to get from the Amish store. We did bring a lot back! Most of what we buy there are spices and baking supplies (plus a few other things thrown in for good measure). We figure that most of the spice/baking stuff is about 25% of what it costs at the cheapest in normal stores. It really does pay to drive the extra 30+ miles to go there. Besides, we both really like going to the store. Also brought back some old-fashioned candy for next week’s Bible study snitching. I think the store lifted an inch or so when we left with all of the goods we bought!

The day was really too long and I was bushed when we finally got home. We didn’t make all of the intended stops either. When supper time came, we stopped at Applebee’s for a sandwich. I had a beef sandwich on some kind of Italian like bread with some green stuff though the dough. Not sure what it was, but I think it would have tasted better with out it. It really wasn’t too bad and I sure finished it off. The sandwich came with deep-fried onion peels which I also really like. Margriet had a chicken strip and fries basket. Really though, either one of the meals would have been enough for the two of us.

Today is Pim’s birthday, so as promised, Oma called him a couple of minutes ago. He is in good shape and thanked us for the telescope we had sent to him. Was thinking of sending him a drum set, but really didn’t want his Mom grumpy with me. He also mentioned that M&M had eaten some glass (apparently not too long before we called), but didn’t explain how or when. When he decided he had talked enough, he said goodbye and hung up! Oma thought she would get a chance to talk to Astrid, but that was not on Pim’s mind at all. Of course the mention of eating glass really got Oma’s attention - and mine. She called Astrid back and got the whole store. Not sure where she got the glass from, but Astrid noticed it in her mouth and was able to get it out and then rinsing her mouth. The doctor’s office said there really was little they could do in the situation, but to watch her very closely. I am sure she will be watched very closely. Boy that is scary!

One of our stops yesterday was to pick up a couple of turkey breasts to roast for the holiday dinner at church since they were "too high" priced here. Turned out they were higher priced in Green Bay! Since it was getting late, we decided to buy one there anyway, but only one due to the high price. We will roast it probably tomorrow along with a pan of stuffing. We will let it cool, the slice it on Friday and put it into a foil pan to take to church. We have found that the foil pans, about cake size, are handy to have on hand. When something is taken to church, just throw the pan away - no dishes to wash.

In today’s paper, in the memory column, there were a couple of interesting articles which occurred in history this week:

1881 - The Albert Landreth Co. of Manitowoc has agreed to try out several pea harvesters manufactured by Frank Hamachek of Kewaunee and, if the machines prove satisfactory, will use them in their fields. The fact that the company now operating a machine which costs $400, while the Hamachek machine costs $350, will requires the local product to "make good" in a large measure. [These machines later became the industry standard in Wisconsin and elsewhere, being pulled at first by horse team, the steam tractors, and finally gasoline/diesel tractors until the war. A large industry in Kewaunee at the time.]

1931 - Federal officers invaded Kewaunee County, their third visit within a year. A wildcat brewery in the city of Kewaunee and a distillery in the town of Lincoln were raided. Equipment and all illicit products were destroyed, 2,000 gallons of beer and 643 gallons of moonshine. [I think this was a brewery in town that "switched" to making root beer during prohibition. Maybe not all of their production was root beer! After prohibition they stayed with root beer, but also started with beer again. They are still making root beer today, but no beer.]

1946 - Use of electricity in Luxemburg/Casco area is being curtailed as a result of the strike soft coal mines. Advertising, ornamental and excessive street lighting are some types of electricity use that is restricted.

1946 -Most of Kewaunee’s 250 licensed deer hunters were back from the wilds this weekend and about one of five was successful in bagging a buck.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><