June 7, 2007 (5:35am)
54º F, High clouds, No wind.
Good morning,
Back again for another time. Arrived here about 3:15 P.M., making better time than I thought we would. The stretch of I-43 between Manitowoc and Green Bay ain’t one of the better road surfaces on the I-system. Still we averaged 62 mph for an 1½ from Manitowoc until we ran out of the interstate type road north of Coleman.
We had a very nice lunch with Bill, Mary, and my cousin Janet. There was so much to talk about that at time the conversation got some convoluted! I think all of have hearing problems of one kind of another which didn’t help either. There is no way that we could possible catch up on everything that happened since seeing each other, especially Janet. Janet lived up in the UP many years ago, but a lot farther north, so we had some notes to compare. They all were curious to find out where exactly we were on the map and had lots of questions. Janet said what she could remember most of her stay up here was - so much snow and so cold. Of course those are two things I really like!
Seems it was a gift exchanging time too. Bill and Mary brought presents for house warming, Margriet’s birthday, and our anniversary. There were instructions on the last two not to open until the appropriate days. Shucks! I put them up high on a shelf so Margriet would not be tempted. Our house warming gift is a "do-it-yourself" planting potted plant kit. I am sure it will be planted today and are expecting flowers tomorrow. Also included was the largest bag of the smallest jellybeans I have ever seen. Those we have sampled. If we ate one a day and had to finish them by the time we could see them, it would be five years down the road! Probably will be gone before we see them again, but just barely.
I had forgotten how short Janet was. During the requisite picture taking session, at one point I was between Janet and Margriet. Felt like I was between two very short bookends. Janet is a couple inches shorter than Margriet is! Bill got a new video camera, so of course had to play with it too. The waitress (super nice) also took a couple of pictures of us at the table too. Hope we didn’t break too many cameras.
We could not have picked a better restaurant to eat at. They had gotten there earlier than we, so were sitting in the waiting area, while the restaurant folks set a table for us. The food was great and plentiful. None of us could finish what was set before us. Mary had Swedish meatballs and noodles, I had liver and onions, and the rest had porkchop, kraut, and a dumpling. Janet took about half of her porkchop with her. She should have a pretty good sandwich with the fresh bread we gave her. My meal also came with a dessert that I passed on (ever hear of that happening before?). We had eaten there several times in the past and always found it very good, and easy to find.
Our start was a bit late yesterday. I tried to contact the phone company here (Michigan AT&T) to cancel an appointment for a service tech to come out and correct the connection here. After going through the very long wait of the automated answering service before, I thought I would try just staying on the line and waiting. Low and behold, it wasn’t long before an actual operator came on the line! The idea is that you fool the system into thinking you have an old rotary dial rather than the normal touch dial system. It worked! I got to the point of actually talking to a costumer server operator - and got put on hold because of a backlog. The message was that a wait of about 10 minutes was required before I would be taken care of. After 30 minutes and another message about another 10 minutes, I hung up. Next I tried to contact them via the internet, but the only way to get through is to have an account number from a bill, the last payment made amount, or the present balance due on the account. Since it is a very new account, I have none of them so could not complete the process! Grumpy!
After arriving here, I again tried and in the process, found an 800 number one of the gals had given me the last time I talked at them. I tried it and got right through without all of the hassle. Un-grumpy. The service call was cancelled! Un-grumpier! My little brother suggested that I try using a cordless phone. One was left here by the previous owner so I tried it - works! So for the moment, we have the cordless phone handset here and the base in the other house. When we go over there to work, we will take the handset along and put it on the charger. We failed to pick-up some underground phone wire when we stopped and just might forget it for the time being or at least until we get things sorted out more here.
The earlier start was intended so we could stop both at Maynard’s and Fleet Farm in Manitowoc. We were able to stop at Fleet, originally to pick up another level of stagging. They didn’t have any in stock, but did pick up a set of wheels. While there, I looked at their storm doors and found one on sale for $20.00 less than Maynard’s who was the least expensive I had seen previously. Besides it also was a better brand. So instead of fitting stagging into the truck, a door went in. The bottom of the door was against the bottom of the truck doors, while the top was angled up resting on a bed headboard a bit farther to the front. If someone had opened the truck doors without knowing what they were doing, they would have been cut off at about the kneecaps! Installing the door is not the top priority, but right up there.
We did stop at Maynard’s after leaving the restaurant. It is on the intersection we take to head north. Needed to pick up some PEX supplies. I was surprised at the small quantities and smaller selection this store had for fittings and other PEX supplies. The smaller quantities mean higher prices per item - like that less. I did manage to pick up what I needed though. Also picked up a two wheeled hand cart. It is a long walk carrying boxes for Margriet from the Hobbit Hus to the main house basement entrance. Would really not be too attractive for her knuckles to drag on the ground as she walks. I think I might also find uses for it too.
Margriet and I have come to the conclusion that after driving for a couple of hours we need to get out and walk around a bit. Get the wiggles out. Well at least m knees and hips start to talk to me. In the past on the way here we have not, but wished we had once we arrived. I spotted a sign to 12 Foot Falls County Park near Beecher, so decided to see what was there. After driving 2-3 miles we came upon another sign indicating it was another 3 miles farther. Turned around and headed back to the highway, stopping at an intersection to complete a Chinese fire drill (walk around the truck a half dozen times). After turning west on U.S. 8, we discovered that the road came out onto it a couple of miles down the road. Could have done it without much added distance. Will remember it next time. Along the road to the falls, I saw a doe go into the woods, followed by a fawn. There probably was a second fawn, but I didn’t see it. The fawn was probably about a month old, very small and in spots. It dropped like a sack of potatoes, so I would not see it. Margriet didn’t see either as it happened so quickly. Cool! The hawks and crows sure were having a rough day yesterday. Everyone we saw as being harassed by red-wing black birds and other birds. There were a lot of them.
As we brought the truck to a stop here, a few rain drops started to fall. While unloading the essentials, the number of drops increased. We had several rain showers into the night. No storms or the like, just a nice soaking rain. This morning it is some overcast, but looks like it will be a mostly sunny day. Good thing, since there is a lot to unload from the truck before anything else happens. Then we can get to work on this place again.
June 8, 2007 (5:26am)
63º F, Overcast, Strong NNW wind.
Good morning,
We had tornado warnings and watches up for most of the night, but most of the action was to our east and along the lake shore. Not much here but a few drops of rain, not even enough to settle the dust. The wind is up this morning and at a pretty good clip. Don’t have the internet yet, so can’t tell you what the official wind speed is. From the looks of it, we will get some rain today.
The truck is unloaded (Whew!) That task took a good portion of the day. And now comes the task of trying to find a place for everything. Margriet is finding treasures in almost every box. Bringing back lots of memories for me too. One problem is that we want to use so many of the contents, but we just don’t have room for it here. At least for now. Some of the really good things are the books. Found one that Dad must have bought when I was about a year old (at least that is what the date stamp indicates he added as was his habit for most things he purchased) titled "Deep River Jim’s Wilderness Trail Book" written in 1937. I can remember reading it when I was a kid. Apparently they used it while camping in Chetek, as there are several recipes marked with Mom’s underlined "E" on several of them. There is one that has a note indicating that "Dad" liked one in particular - fry toast as I used to call it when I made it for the kids when they were young. I think the first couple of years camping in Chetek, they used an open fire to do most of the cooking on. At least I have seen a couple of pictures indicating that. The book would have been rather useful for Mom especially since she was a city dude to start her life with Dad.
We made some progress and some un-progress, after the truck was emptied, yesterday. With the extremely humid weather yesterday, we discovered the basement of the main house needs a dehumidifier and very soon. I could not believe the condensation there. We took a ride over to our favorite Ace hardware store in Iron River to pick one up - until we saw the price. Could not believe the numbers they had stuck on each box! Sure do wish I could have sold them for that price when I had the store! Wow! Think we will take a ride to Iron Mountain today as see if we can save $50.00 or so dollars at least. One thing about the high price, they were a lot prettier than those I sold!
We did not go away empty handed from the hardware store though. Picked up a new toilet for about $25-35 less than anywhere else we have seen. It also comes with all of the necessary parts and accouterments needed to install it, where the higher priced toilets at other stores didn’t. That saved a couple of bucks too. Yesterday we found the present toilet, besides having a hairline crack, also sweats profusely in the humid weather. It must be a rather old one not to have insulation in the tank. It will be installed fairly soon.
Another thing we picked up was a two handset portable telephone. It was about the same price as the "normal" portable phones also on the shelf with many added features we probably will not use. It does have an answering machine built in which we probably will use, but the caller I.D. and the other stuff we won’t use. The suggestion to have this kind of phone came from my brother and it turned out to be a good one that works here for us. I took out the old phone that was in this house and all of the wiring associated with it. Got too many wires and pipes running on the wall surfaces - don’t need no more that don’t work to look at!
I called the internet folks yesterday to find out their schedule for coming here to set up our service. Since we would not be here early in the week, the soonest they could come out would be a week from today. Had hoped of yesterday or today, but the administrator for the system is taking a couple of days off and will not be back before Saturday morning at the earliest. After talking about it, Margriet mentioned that there really isn’t a need for us to leave here on Monday since I am not leading the study this week, only going for breakfast. So we changed our plans and I called back again. It looks like they will be here on Monday, but I need to call them to confirm. The installer was in Escanaba installing there and the gal at the office transferred me to his cell phone. He wanted to email me with the exact time when he got back to the office and could look at his schedule. I told him that would be a good trick, since he was bringing me email service. He response was, "Oh." Then we both had a chuckle.
I also found a leak in the roof of the shop. Apparently there is no storm collar around the chimney and some water from the rains came through. I can’t see it from the ground and the chimney also doesn’t have a cap on it, that will need to be repaired when I have all of the scaffolding to get up that high and work. Should be able to reach it from the scaffolding as it is in the corner of the building. Since the thing is made from a cast iron sewer pipe, I probably will need to modify one for a stainless chimney to fit. More putzy work! Only up in the air. Of course I had some empty cardboard boxes under the leak!
Stopped in Alpha on the return from the hardware store to pick up some stamps from the post office. Discovered it closed at 4:15 P.M. and of course we were there at 4:25 P.M. Seems like a strange time to be closing, but expect there is a reason. The town has a speed limit of 25 mph, which is not unusual. The method of enforcing it is I think. All of the streets, except on the circle, have speed bumps in the form of pot-holes. At least that is what I think is the reason they are not repaired. It is rather effective I must say. Wouldn’t dare driving any faster. Most of the time I drive slower. At the little general store you also can get tattoos and piercing. Hope the guy that does the work is not also the butcher for the store! Big news in Alpha is - the lawn on the circle has been mowed! It really is a charming little town that is trying very hard not to die. It appears to have been a rip-snorting iron mining town at one time.
Those dang jellybeans are going to be the destruction of me yet. Seems I can’t pass the bag without eating a couple - or more!
We tried some of the pasties last night for supper. They ain’t as good as my Woman’s!! Margriet put them on a rack in the electric frypan with a little water to heat through. They heated through, but the dough got sticky. They were tasty though, but not up to Margriet’s standard. Yesterday we had what Margriet called our first "real" breakfast - pancakes and bacon. She had made a batch of pancake mix to bring here, so of course we had to try it out. Good as usual. I sure do never tire of smelling bacon frying in the morning.
June 9, 2007 (4:54am)
44º F, Cloudy. Calm.
Good morning,
Another week at an end. Boy the time flies when your having fun! It has been almost a month since we have signed the papers on Guds Nordtre and it seems like yesterday. We are still fooling around with the plumbing and haven’t started on the schedule we had originally set up to get the Hobbit Hus ready for winter. Guess that’s life.
We did get a surprise yesterday. We bought a dehumidifier, got it home, got it set up and ready to go. When I opened the door to the basement of the main house to hook it up and get it running, the basement floor had water on it. Not just from condensation, real water. Margriet had washed a couple of sheet she found packed in the bathtub, using a couple of tubs of water. When she drained it, for what ever reason it appears to have overwhelmed the drain, backing up the system and causing the water to flow onto the floor through the drains. Of course most of the last truckload of boxes were sitting on the floor and the bottom layer of some got wet. While Margriet manned the wet/dry vacuum cleaner to pick up the water, I madly carried boxes to higher ground. I want things to dry some before I tackle that problem. Probably today sometime. Seems the dehumidifier is working well at last check of it last night.
We did get to Iron Mountain and got a dehumidifier. It was about $20.00 cheaper, not as much less as I had hoped, so saved a couple of bucks toward the gasoline cost to go. We also checked out a couple of grocery stores and found the prices to be very high there too. The stores were nice and large, but high priced. A 3# box of bacon ends and pieces we buy for normally $1.99 was $4.79! Didn’t even want to look at what "normal" bacon cost. There were a few things we needed so picked them up, but not all on the list. I can see we will be making a periodic trip to the Amish store and elsewhere to stock up in larger quantities. Much larger quantities. Probably will go back to the system of many years ago when living in northwestern Wisconsin - supply run once a month.
We found ourselves in Iron Mountain at lunchtime, so stopped at the Norther Woods Buffet and Steak House. The buffet we have had before and was just as good this time. Don’t know how their steaks are ain’t never had any. Never have seen anyone eating any either. Of course we stop only at lunch and it might be on the dinner menu. We used it as our main meal, instead of what we had thought of for supper, normally our main meal of the day. We will have the planned meal today for supper instead. OK by me. Everything is good at this house.
The phone batteries finally were finished charging yesterday, so they are now in service and seem to work well. The fist call we received was from a satellite company wanting to hook us up to cable TV, &c.! Didn’t take the offer. Now at least we have one source of communication that works. Hope to have the internet capability on Monday, but will find out for sure today when I call them. That will also mean many changed addresses too and folks to notify.
I did manage to get the hot and cold water lines to the kitchen sink to the shower installed yesterday. Not working, but in. Should be the last time I hope I will need to disturb Margriet’s cupboards, at least for water supply. Now what is left is to install waterlines from the cold water manifold to the shower and connect to the kitchen sink. Also need to plumb the hot water manifold and run all of the hot waterlines. Then move the hot water heater back in place and connect it again.
After supper last night I got tired of scratching my earlobes with my ankle bones so picked up the loppers and started to clear the brush and trees out from the north side of the Hobbit Hus. For what ever reason, three sides of the house have been cleared, but the north side has been allowed to grow wild. That makes it too easy for critters to get in/under the building. I started by cutting out anything the lopper could handle. There are a several larger trees which will need the chainsaw to drop (and the wind from the correct direction not to drop them on the house). Some are maple, which will eventually keep us warm, and a couple are pines, which I hope to make into lumber. There also are a lot of trash growth which will end up on the brush pile. I have to set up a peeling buck too before the trees dry and are hard to peel. They also check and crack much less with the bark off too. Guess I will need to cut a couple of cedars down soon.
In our riding around this countryside (and Margriet’s reading of everything in sight), we are finding more and more things to check out. It seems there is a historical site or park around every corner. This are is doing a pretty good job of preserving it’s past and natural resources. Both of which are in abundant supply. There seems also some special event every weekend in many communities around here. There sure seems to be little time for a tourist to say there is nothing to do here. Local folks too. Each community seems to take a special pride in there accomplishments and like to show it off to anyone and everyone. That is cool! Of the first order! Now we will, in time, have to check them ALL out too.
11:54 am.
The kitchen has cold water! Hooray! Not real nice installation, but pretty! Had to go through the shower with the piping. Not my preferred way, but the way it is.
Time to get a-going.
In Christ My Saviour,
Chris ><>
