Rob's New Dresser

Quite some time ago, Rob decided he wanted to build a dresser for Carrie's and his bedroom. He asked if we could do that together, and of course I said yes. Who wouldn't jump at the chance to build something together with his son? Anyway, because of our frequent absences for time in Wisconsin and demands on Rob's work and home life, we haven't really zipped right through the project. Lately, though, real progress has been made. The basic unit is finished, except for affixing the top. Rob has worked on the drawers most recently. Here are three pictures of him gluing together the drawers.

Because of all the excellent planning and measuring, they do fit in the dresser!

Soon, all that will be left is the finishing, which I will leave completely in Rob's hands.

Now, I can say that I've built something with each of my kids. (Gotta treat them all equal, you know.) In Will's case, it was the timber framing for his planned sauna, and in Betsy's case, it was a gardening workbench. You can click on the links to recall those projects if you want.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today, March 15th, the day that Federal taxes were due prior to 1954, is my father's birthday. He would have been 92 today. Paula and I miss him! Happy Birthday, Dad!

Snowmobilers

Gail and Greg have been visiting us for a few days of vacation. Yesterday, they rented snowmobiles and spent the afternoon exploring trails in the area. Then they returned to our place for the evening, including a great pork, saurkraut and dumplings dinner, and a couple of card games. (The snowmobiles were a 24 hour rental.) This morning, they were off again for some additional exploring. They planned to take the route through the Chippewa Flowage before returning the machines to the rental location.

Although snowmobiling is not something Kathie and I are attracted to, it was nice to see Gail and Greg having fun.

They're off!

Barnebirke and Sprints

We attended a couple of the opening events for this Birkebeiner weekend in Hayward, WI. The Barnebirkie event is for children of all ages and sizes.

Some of them are pretty good skiers. I read that Anders has a new pair of skis on the way, so I'm already looking forward to his participation in this event a year or two from now. Grandpa and Grandma would be ringing their cowbells for sure.

Some of them needed a little help from their parents.

Some were not really sure they wanted to be doing this at all.

Others had already learned how to work the crowd.

And everyone got a medal for their efforts.

After a break for some cocoa, irish coffee or hot apple cider, we watched some of the sprint events.

The turns at the end pylons were something to see.

Then the sprinters raced on back up Main Street to the finish line.

We and our visitors had a great time on a beautiful blue winter day.

Winter Near Winter

We spent most of the last two weeks of January at our place in Wisconsin, which is not far from Winter, WI. Hence the title of this blog posting. In addition to finishing that puzzle, about which I posted last time, and feasting on fish, about which I posted two times ago, we also enjoyed a visit from our oldest son and his family.

Here is Anders with his mother shortly after donning his PJs for a good night's sleep shortly after arrival.

The next morning, Anders got in some "Josey time", although Josey was not always sure she wanted the attention. I know that Sandy posted a similar picture, but you can't have too many pictures of Anders, you know (and as you will see).

On Saturday, Grandma and I agreed to keep Anders entertained so that his parents could do some skiing. Here I am getting Anders ready for a sled ride out to the mailbox, which is about 0.4 miles from our house. Will and Sandy were departing for their skiing expedition just as we begin our walk. The truth is that Anders was asleep even before we got to the end of our driveway.

He recovered later, though. Here he is with his dad, vegging out on the couch.

It can be difficult to get Will to smile properly for the camera. You have to make him laugh. I think this is one of the better pictures I have taken of him and Sandy.

Anders loves his hat. (We all love Anders.)

I wish my mom and dad could have seen their great grandson sitting in their Amana rocker.

We made another sled ride outing on the lake the next day.

Although Anders mostly wanted to push the sled.

Later that afternoon, Kathie and I went cross-country skiing on a beautiful trail. The snow was different there than in the area of our cabin. Lots of the white stuff was hanging on the trees, and in the late afternoon sun, things had a distinct blue shade to them. Kathie looks good here, eh? (When you spend part of your time in Wisconsin, you have to learn to say "eh?" a lot.)

5000 Piece Puzzle

Call me crazy. I've loved picture puzzles ever since I was a little boy. Mom used to buy me puzzles manufactured by a company called Tuco. They were mostly a few hundred pieces, but I did them as early as age four. Over the years, I did lots more and thought 1,000 piece puzzles and then 1,500 piece puzzles were a big deal. Eventually, I did a 3,500 piece puzzle with my Aunt Bonnie at her house in California over one long weekend back in about 1981. That was the record, until recently.

A few years ago, I bought the one pictured below at a hobby store in Iowa City. It was made by a Spanish company and even came with instructions on how to identify and send in for missing pieces! I thought it would be a real challenge and fun for us to do up at the lake. Then it just sat on the shelf for a few years, because I knew it would take some time, and I could never quite work up the courage to actually begin.

Then last July, I finally broke down. Like Kathie said one day, "I think it's time." Below is a sequence of pictures showing the progression of work. Just turning all the pieces upright took considerable time.

I worried constantly about pieces falling off the table and getting lost to a vacuum cleaner or to Josey deciding to lick them up (something she was not too likely to do).

Eventually, and alas, I discovered that I should have measured the size of the table instead of making the assumption that it would fit. At 157 cm (~62 in) by 107 cm (~42 in), it was just about four pieces too wide, and so I was faced with trying to move it to another location (the ping pong table was the only real alternative and not a good one). I eventually came up with the idea of slipping some thin aluminum sheets under one edge. That worked reasonably well and saved the day.

I worked on it during our visits here from July through October. Then we went home for the holidays. So, the puzzle waited patiently during November, December, and early January. This is what it looked like when I resumed working on it about 10 days ago.

I finished it two days ago, with some contributions from Kathie and miscellaneous guests. Henry even found one piece, as I recall. In the end, no pieces were lost, though there was a close call with one piece. I almost hated to put it back in the box, but that is where you can find it now. I think I won't do another one so big anytime soon, if ever. Most everyone who saw it thought I was nuts anyway.

Fish Fry

Making the acquaintance of our neighbors here in WI is one of the nicest things that has happened for us since we bought our lake home. The Eppers are good people who have given generously of their time to help us with chores like moving our dock to/from the lake, checking the cabin when we are away, and plowing our driveway. We are improved fishermen for the time they have taken to show us better locations and methods than we might have learned on our own. Gerry, Kathy, Nate, and Brian are also lots of fun, and we have enjoyed dinner exchanges with them on several occasions.

Last Saturday, in fact, we were their guests for a fish fry. The fish were crappie that I suspect the entire family contributed to their freezer through the prior fishing season. Brian is the official fish fryer. He set up a deep fat fryer in the garage and had it heating by the time we arrived.

For someone who appreciates organization and order as much as I do, one has to like the way he stages his utensils, batter, and the array of seasoned fish (he wouldn't share his special fish seasoning recipe with me). Having a beer nearby is also important.

Just look at this technique! The guy really knows how to fry fish.

Yum!

Here is the whole gang after consuming mass quantities of that wonderful fish and looking content. Kathy (Gerry and I both have wives named Kathy/Kathie--we have great taste in women, I must say) had prepared a wonderful salad, roasted potatoes, and baked bread to go with the fish. Then she topped it all off with a red velvet cake. Excellent! That guy at the end of the table is looking might proud of himself for the quality of the fish. I think he is entitled.

Getting together again sometime soon will definitely be a priority.

Looking Back At Christmas

I didn't get around to posting these pictures earlier, but I thought my readers might still enjoy seeing a few shots from our various Christmas celebrations. Kathie, her mother and I spent the day together. We had a great dinner the evening before, so we had lots of good leftovers to enjoy and very nice gifts to open.

Josey must have eaten at least twice her usual amount on Christmas day, because all of her gifts involved treats. So she had lots of snacks in addition to her usual allowances.

A few days later, other family members gathered. Henry had to show me his remote controlled skunk (really!). Not everyone has one of these!

Eleanor played for awhile with some of our toys.

Then, Kathie and I decided to engage everyone in a game of "Fox and Geese." We tromped out paths in the snow and then taught the grandchildren how to play. We all had a really fun time--some games you just don't forget.

While Kathie prepared cocoa for an after-game treat, there was some clowning around.

Then there was cocoa, which requires lots of stirring in order to blend the Cool Whip (we were out of marshmallows).

The next day, Will and Sandy arrived, and we gathered again for dinner and gifts. Kathie had spent most of 2009 making these bags for the three "girls." (I can call them girls if I want. I know they are all successful young women, but I like to think of them as my girls.)

Henry got a new shirt from his Uncle Van, but I think we have indoctrinated him in Hawkeyeness enough so that there will be no worries.

Eleanor and Clara have new slings for their dollies. Clara liked hers. She was just tired of having to pose for so many pictures.

I had been ready for quite some time for Eleanor and Clara to open their Christmas gifts. Earlier in the year, I had purchased two very nice music box movements. You may recall my posting last September about the ancient wood called kauri. I used some of the kauri board I bought then to make each of these little sweeties a music box with the movements installed in them.

Will, Sandy and Anders stayed with us an extra day. So, Kathie took this "three generations" picture.

I think the holidays were extra nice this year.