First trip

May 12, 2007 (4:19am)
38º F, Dark and cloudy, NSEW wind 0 mph.

Good morning from Guds Nordtre,

This is coming to you from Guds Nordtre for the first time. Although it will not be sent until we get internet service here or we get back to FISKLAND again. We hope it is the former, but doubt it. I suspect that when this is finally blogged, it will be rather long and built in segments. So we begin this portion of our adventure. Hope you enjoy it.

We left the motel early for our appointments yesterday. Actually, we stayed a bit later than usual, chewing the fat with the owner. We have developed a friendship with her and it was nice to chat with her. On our leaving, Claudia gave us a house warming gift of a bottle of maple syrup produced here in the UP. The first time we stayed at the motel see wanted us to know that breakfast would be available at 6:30 A.M. I teased her that I ate a lot of pancakes for breakfast so she better have a big stack, or something like that. Guess that put us on the right foot, as she said she remembered that each time we came, hence the honey. They are nice folks and we intend to have them out for lunch, when we get set up here a bit more.

The first thing on the agenda was a stop at the hardware store to pick up a bucket and some sponges. Getting all of the necessary cleaning supplies, we forgot to get them! I think that hardware store is the area’s answer to Fleet Farm. I’m sure we will be perusing it a lot and often. They also have a "rewards" card, which has some "special" offers and gimmicks to bring us back again, hopefully often. It doesn’t cost anything, so we will see what happens.

Next stop was at the post office in Crystal Falls to let them know we are in the area now. It really is a small town here. No government forms to fill out, he just took a sticky note, put our address and name on it. He said he would tell the mail carrier. I told him not to bring any bills other than hundreds. He said he would relay the message, but it was up to the carrier and could not guarantee anything. The next person in line thought that was a good idea and wanted the same for his mail delivery.

We arrived here about a half hour ahead of time, since we ran out of things to do to occupy ourselves. It did give us a chance to wander around a bit more than we did the last time here. With the trees much greener, it looks more like a woods than before. Found some of the corner posts that had been well marked. Really didn’t expect that, but glad they are. All corners we saw were T-posts about 4' tall rather than the usual 1" pipe sticking up less than a foot from the surface. We also started to make mental notes as to what needs to be done and how. There is a lot!

Punner (I like that first name), the listing agent, showed up a bit before the prescribed time, so she started us on the buildings walk-through. Jeff, and his yellow lab Kieba, showed up a bit late. Kieba was in his element and on the run "hunting" the whole time. Of course he managed to find some mud and muck to go through too.

We were astonished at how well cleaned up the buildings were. The owner, Betty, and her kids did a marvelous job. Everything was spic and span! Her husband was a builder, but not a finish carpenter by any means of the imagination. There are many things "roughed" in, but not really finished off. Most of the wiring and plumbing, while oversized and solid, is installed very crudely. Much of it, especially in the "guest house" is on the surface of the walls, rather than between them. Hopefully that will change in time. In the main house there is a lot of finish carpentry to be done. I don’t think he knew what the word or product glue is! That is OK with us as we now have the time to do it and I will have a shop to work from. I think I will have a long list of things to do for the duration.

After finding everything in good shape, we went to Crystal Falls to the title company to get all of the paperwork finished and part with a bag full of money - and finally meet Betty. Sure is a lot of signing to do! But we did it. All of us, (Realtors, buyers, seller, and title company) finally got together and got all of the checks and papers exchanged that needed exchanging. We had a delightful chat with Betty and got a chance to ask a couple of questions we had. One of the water valves on one toilet in the basement began to leak when they turned everything on and made sure it worked. She thought it would need a new valve so offered us a 20 dollar bill to pay for it. I suspect that it is only dry from sitting without water in it for many months and will only need to tighten the gland nut on it. Haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, wanted the truck empty so we could run errands without things flying around in a partially filled truck. We don’t have any water yet, but expect that to change this morning. I had brought 10 gallons of water along - just in case something like this happened.

In talking with Betty we found out that her husband, Leo, had died after during his third battle with cancer. They bought this place as a get-away at first, then moved here for good to live. They had no electricity or plumbing for the first year or so. Really roughing it up nort’! She had a really hard time leaving this place, understandably, but at the same time knew it was time. She said that she had prayed for someone to buy it that would treat it like they had and not some wild, noisy bunch of kids. Well, at least we are not kids! Her prayers started about the same time we started looking in this area. Who says God is not in control?

Betty said that Leo was in the machinery repair and pole building sales/construction business before retiring here thanx to health problems. That explains many things about how this place is put together. He used a lot of sheet metal for roofs and walls on buildings. He also over built everything. Shelves in the shop have 3/8"x1½" or 2" hot rolled steel bars for uprights. There are many shelves and cabinets made from 10 or 16 gage steel. Lots and lots of 1¼"x2¾" rectangular steel tubing. I have to get some cutoff wheels for my grinder to take them apart. When I do, I will probably have enough iron to build almost anything I need. Most of the sheeting on the buildings, inside and out, is 1" dura-flake particle board. Much of the construction is screwed together, ala pole barn construction, so at least some of the lean-to’s I intend to take down will be some easier and I will have a lot of clean materials to use for other projects.

We are staying in the guest house and from the sound of it, Margriet would like to spend the winter in here. We’ll see. It is smaller than what we are living in at FISKLAND, but far more useable. We are not living in a silo laid down on it’s side. At the moment, everything from the truck is in here, other than the tools I brought along.

May 13, 2007 (5:59am)
34º F, Clear sunshine, NSEW wind, 0 mph

Good morning on the second day at Guds Nordtre ,

Our adventure continues with a beautiful day a-coming. There is not a cloud in the sky, not a wispier of a breeze, the birds are singing We are, I think, making progress on our facilities and getting to know what is what. Some of what we know, some of what still befuddles us, and some of what we haven’t even found yet I am sure.

Another heavy spending day yesterday. Two major items were purchased yesterday - LP and a refrigerator. The refrigerator came as a surprise to us. When we turned it on Friday, everything sounded right and I figured we could manage with the old one left here. No such luck. Sounded good, but no cool. It ran constantly, sounding like it was working OK, but that is all. Oh yes the light inside also worked. Since it was cool enough outside during the night, I simply opened the lid on our ice chest and let the cool in, closing it when the temperature got above 40º F. Even in the U.P. the summers will not be that cool in the mornings. So .... yesterday afternoon we trucked off to Iron Mountain and picked up a small GE leader refrigerator. The refrigerator is 16 cubic feet capacity, 5 cubic feet larger than the old one (also larger than the one at FISKLAND), but the outside of the box is smaller. I think at the moment we are over working it - half-gallon of milk and one hard-cooked egg! Anywho, now we can buy some groceries and have some more normal things to eat.

It has been a long time since I have installed a refrigerator, let alone loading and unloading. Two young bucks helped load it onto the truck. At first they were going to lean the front against the floor of the box and slide it up. Told them I would be very grumpy if they did that, especially when the box had written on it in big black letters, "Back, lay down on this side only." I went into the box and let them push it up to me while I kept it upright and pulled it in. Once in I slide it to one of the front corners. Stayed put on the ride home very well. Once home, I took the door off of the old one and anything I could remove to make it some lighter, then wiggled it and slid it out the door. Then came the reverse process to bring the new one in, except it remained in the box until it got into the kitchen. Hardest part of the whole deal was to take the wooden skids off the bottom. I will have to rewire for it as they had an extension cord suitable for lamps connecting the old one. At the moment I have one of my shop extension cords to power it.

The LP is a different story. There is a large tank that came with the house, a really good thing, but it was more or less empty. Betty had left a list of essentials for us and one was where to buy LP. So we trekked off to Amasa, MI and Tall Pines LP. This house did have a separate LP tank for it, but I found out that apparently the Church camp that Betty is affiliated with needed to have a tank, so she "loaned" the one from here to them. Not expecting it to return, so planned to buy a small one. There is an LP space heater in here along with a water heater and small cook top. When we walked into the store (LP sales and service, gift shop, grocery store, sport shop, laundromat, gas station, RV center, hotel, restaurant, &c. all rolled into one) and talked to the "wife" of the business, we found that the "husband" of the store had just gone out on an LP delivery, but she would send him over to see us with some LP and find out what we needed. Very friendly and as if we had known them forever. She apologized for his not being there when we came, but he would be out later, if not on Sunday, today. Sunday surprised me, but guess they deal with some tourist-type folks too. When I asked if they would take a check, the response was kind of, "Why not?" to me, 350# of LP represents a pretty large check to accept from someone who they just met and required no identification from.

When the LP guy came, he mentioned that he had been thinking of how to solve our problem here the least expensive way. Since he had been delivering LP here for years, he knew the place very well. He would be glad to sell us a rebuilt tank for about $650.00, but thought there had to be a better way. His solution was to run another line from the present tank to this house. There is a low pressure and a high pressure regulators already in place, so would only need to buy the copper line and dig it down. The upshot is that he will order the necessary copper line and fittings, probably be here about Wednesday, and drop them off for us. That is about a 20 mile drive each way, knowing that we probably will not be here, and then offered to come and help me roll out the line and connect it! Totally unexpected! Then as he left, he gave us three CFL bulbs to boot!

We have experienced at every turn and contact, folks always treat us as if we were family or long friends. Friendliness is an understatement. It doesn’t make any difference who or what or where - everyone is nice. Suspect that will not hold true for everyone in reality, but so far it is. It is the same attitude as I experienced living in Balsam Lake or as a kid many years ago. It is so nice to experience. It is even better than the Family of Grace Lutheran or at least as good. We have a real feeling of being led to this place.

Among the long list of things to do, there are a couple of vexing problems. One is water and the other is heat. The water supply has couple of problems. One is there is a drain cock valve at the top of the hot water heater that has the closing handle stem broken, so you cannot shut it off, which is leaking. The folks who were here put a cap over it but that still leaked, even though I put in a new gasket and wrapped the threads with plumber’s tape. I got another gasket and found the tape, but once installed, the leak came through the stem! I will cut the pipe today and take out the valve. Not too sure why it was installed in the first place. Doesn’t isolate anything or drain anything, other than part of the hot water side. That can be accomplished with other valves in the system. Oh well, maybe we will have water in the main house, besides the kitchen sink.

The other half of the water problem is getting water into this house. I have not been able to find the proper valve to open allowing water to this house. While the LP guy was here, I asked him if had any ideas, since he has been coming here for so many years. He didn’t, but between the two of us we decided what looked like a 12" well pipe sticking out of the ground was the access to a shutoff about 6' below the ground surface. After he left I got the flashlight out and sure enough, it looked like there is a shut off there, but I cannot turn it to open it. The surface of the soil at the bottom of the access is flush with the top of the valve. That may be part of the problem and also that it has not been moved for a long time. When I took the cover off of the access, I got an odor of diesel fuel or kerosene. Later it dawned on me they might have tried to use that to keep the valve turn-able. I think I have to make a very long handled scoop of some kind to remove some of the soil around the valve.

The other problem is heat in here. The little woodstove that is here is installed rather strangely and the chimney needs attention. The cap on the chimney is broken and in the attached woodshed. With it off, and it looks like for a long time, the rain water has gone into the stove causing the left behind ashes and unburned wood to be soaked and stay that way. Not nice. I cleaned it out a little while ago. Found two dead birds in the stove too. Apparently went down the chimney and then couldn’t get out. I have started a fire in it and hope it will dry things out some, as well as add some heat in here. I will probably burn a small fire for most of the day, hoping it will dry. The water has also caused some rust to begin on the bottom of the firebox. Not serious problem, other than the stove is porcelain on the outside and the rust has damaged that some. So far we have been using a small electric heater that my Dad used in his "den" that I just grabbed to fill a hole while loading the truck. Glad I did as we have been using it every morning so far.

The stove is sitting in a "pit" about 6" deep and 4' square on a concrete slap. I think it may have been an entry way to the house at one time and the rest of the floor is higher. I think I will raise the stove by flooring in the pit and put some fireproof material down as a floor. As it is, I have to bend over so my ears are between my ankles to fill the woodstove. Makes for harder clean up too. While I am at it, I will build in a passthrough woodbox. I will fill it from outside in the wood shed and lift a lid to get wood for the stove inside. Saves lots of dirt coming in and warm air going out when filling the woodbox. Built the first one like that in the Weyauwega house many years ago. Worked well there and expect it will here also.

Did have a funny yesterday. I was in the shop puzzling something out, when it sounded like someone was coming down the stairs from the "hired-hands" room. It sounded light of foot and coming down slowly. Turned out to be a small gray squirrel that was just as surprise to see me as I was to see him. Tried to corral him into going out the door. After a couple of minutes, it dashed back up the stairs again. I suspect it has a nest up there somewhere and will have to dispatch it as soon as possible. Will stop and pick up a couple of rat traps next time to the store.

1:41 pm

Just in for a cup of coffee. Have had some success and a wild goose chase too - sorta’.

Got the water leak repaired on the water heater. Took out the offending valve and replaced it with a pipe. I ran into Iron River to pick up a couple of unions (I only had one) and a piece of ¾" PVC. After I got back and was cutting out the valve, there were a couple pieces of PVC leaning up against the wall! Around the corner on one of the shelves were some other PVC fittings, including 3 or 4 unions! Also a cans of cleaner and cement, just like the ones I bought a couple of days ago! Didn’t need to go into town after all, but it was a nice ride! End result is desirable though, every thing in the main house works except one toilet downstairs. Apparently it froze at some time or other and needs a new valve. The stem is split for about 3" of it’s length. Another project for another day to add to my 2-DO list. As soon as the water that ran onto the water heater drains a bit, I will fire that up. Maybe we can actually take a shower before heading back to FISKLAND. That really would be nice. Arm pits are getting a bit scaley. Near fermentation I think.

The woodstove has been simmering along all day so far. Plenty warm in here now, so probably will let it die until tonight. Hopefully everything will be dry and cool by then. Talking of rain tonight though. Wonder if the fire is hot enough it will keep the rain out? Probably not. I looked to get a coal scuddle at the store yesterday, but the wanted nearly $25.00 for one. Not! I will wait until we find one a bit cheaper and bring the one from FISKLAND in the meantime. We eventually will need another one though. Also want to pick up a poker/fire hoe too. This woodstove really burns things well from front to back. When it is time to reload, the hot coals need to be brought to the front again to start the whole burning process over again. Surprisingly to me, it really does put out a lot of heat. Not too sure about in the winter, but folks have wintered over in this house with it.

May 14, 2007 (5:17am)
38º, Cloudy, ESWN wind 0 mph.

Good morning from Guds Nordtre day three,

Our world got washed and thundered and lightening-ed last night. A really big storm came rumbling in a bit after 9:00 P.M. 30 minutes later it really got serious about the light and noise show. It was one almost continuous flash and rumble for nearly an hour. I got up and watched it for a while. Cool! I really don’t have an accurate way to measure the rainfall, but would not be surprised if it was an inch or more. This is sand country and the rain soaks in right away. At FISKLAND, with the clay, I can check puddles and get a pretty good indicator. The are here really needs the rain. I did discover I probably should put a rain gutter over the entryway to this house too. Must have had a grass or forest fire north of here as we saw many pieces of fire equipment on the road heading in that direction. Some really heavy equipment, so probably was in forest somewhere.

There is no shortage of walking here. The buildings are set much farther apart than FISKLAND and some up-ity and down-ity to getting from here to the basement of the main house. Seems like every time I want a tool, it is in the shop, so I go for a bit of a walk.

Just had to stop for a few minutes and watch a doe and her yearling fawn check out the place. They came to within 100 feet of this house and maybe 50 feet from the main house. The doe was really giving the place the once over - like something has changed, but not too sure what to make of it. The fawn pretty much was eating breakfast along the edge of the driveway as they came closer, not too worried as mom was on the look out. Really pretty to watch. There are a lot of birds around here, many flitting around the deer. Neither one paid any attention to the other, but suspect both keeping wary eyes. Really cool!

Anywho, where was I? Oh yes, back to walking. We really have a long walk to the mailbox. It is also something I need to plow during the winter. I am definitely going to pick up a tractor with some kind of a blade or bucket on it for winter use at the very least. I will be keeping my eyes open to find a small Ford 8/9 or similar. Probably will be wishing that I still had my old snowmobile suit for that task.

I finally did get the underground valve open, but got a surprise. A gusher of water came into the access hole! Now I am really wondering what that is all about and how to turn the water on in here. Leo, the builder, sure did like to put in shutoff valves everywhere. I am not sure but there must be 30-40 in the system. There must be at least one somewhere I am missing. I think I have traced every pipe from one end to the other and still not found "the" one causing the problems. It is kind of a swash camp for now, hauling water by the bucket full from the main house. Makes for some interesting events occasionally. I tried to light the hot water heater in the main house, but to no avail. Changing out the valve at the top of the heater, must have dumped enough water on everything that is it fairly drowned. Will need to let things dry some I fear and try again when we come back. In the mean time, our little camp stove is our water heater.

Trimmed a bunch of branches from around this house and the LP tank. We will be losing several large trees, one a pretty and tall pine, that are growing too close to the building. Try to keep them at least 10' from the building. More distance if possible. The pines will become saw logs and the rest probably firewood. Of course the trick will be to keep them off of the house when they drop. The LP tank was also covered with pine branches. Cut a bunch of them back, but more to go yet. Have to go around the rest of the buildings and do the same. There are several small trees that have sprouted up at the footing line, so will get rid of those before the roots do any more damage.

I started to dig the trench for the LP gas line, but discovered that the shovel I brought along was one with a cracked blade at the base of the handle. It also is a shot handled one, so not really made for this kind of work. After digging about 10 feet, decided that I could wait to get a different shovel to do the rest. The soil is fairly easy to dig in, sand, except where the pine trees are. Then the roots are a bit tough to go through.

Margriet unpacked a rather large snag of boxes and put the contents to use or storing them on some of the shelves in the basement. She also is having some fun going through them, finding all kinds of goodies that she has never seen before and others of hers that have been packed away since they arrived. We are using two table chairs that have been in storage since their arrival with the rest of her things. I feel guilty sitting in them as they are fancy ones and I don’t have very fancy (read dirty) clothes on. This little house looks a bit empty now that the boxes are gone from it. I actually was able to vacuum the floors with a shop vac yesterday. Picked up many lady bugs and other assorted bug carcases. The really few things we are using, are finding their places of use.

Our plan for today is to go to FISKLAND fairly early today. Not too sure when we will return to Guds Nordtre. Depends a lot on how fast we fill the truck for the return trip. I know it will be as short as possible of a stay there.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris ><>