One of the 10 little lakes near our house.

Sunday morning and a little relaxing before doing school work and pickles.

A 13 striped ground squirrel enjoying a plum!

Dill pickles, plain, hot, and garlic!

Add some garlic and carrots and jalapenos.

Beautiful.

Nice dill.

Sliced this way and that!

Hot jalapenos too.

Some of the 50 quarts we did the first day.

Peter picked a peck of pickles

Woodworking updates

Andy, our cabinetmaker came to the house on Friday. He is working on the window seat, pantry door, stair banister and railing. He will be framing the stain glass with maple to match the rest of the house. The railing will be maple and will include the banister and railing from the old stairs at Garfield School in Marinette. He also agreed to spray varnish the five doors for the bathrooms, linen closet, laundry room and front hall closet! Hurray! Clothesline pole holes have been dug and they will be in place tomorrow.

The trim for the windows, doors, and floors has been ordered. We hope it arrives so Haley and Bill can help prime and paint Friday and Saturday.

Peter and I have been canning pickles. Yesterday 50 quarts and Peter is at it again today as I work here at school preparing for my new kindergartners. School starts Tuesday.

Aunt Elsie's Overnight Pickles

12 pickling cucumbers cut into wheels - peel some of the skin
4 onions cut into rings
4 teaspoons salt
2 cups vinegar
1 cup sugar

Layer onions and cucumbers then pour over the salt, vinegar, sugar mixture. A Tupperware container is good to use because it can be flipped over during the first day.

Apple Pie

Elkart Lake Farmer's Market

Swiss Chard, mixed lettuce and spinach, new potatoes, green beans, radishes, green peppers, red onion, sweet corn, and Michigan peaches paired with Peter's marinated pork on the grill AND transparent apple pie! Yum!

Joan and and Steve after their vacation in Door County

Joan and Steve visited from Maryland

Steve getting after our weeds

Back patio finished up

Micah and Peter getting the work done

A start on the drive way

What you can do when you are done with the house...

December 2008

Peter's perfect pizza!

This pizza was a wonderful break from closet work.

Peter found and bought some transparent apples. They were awesome. I made two of my best apple pies ever, an apple crunch, and three quarts of chunky applesauce.

Bathroom shower area almost complete

We have two showerheads.
All that is left is the ceiling, and trim.

Correct faucet-falling water 8 1/4 inches

Closet complete without doors

Let the closet making begin

Closet making

We put up the shelving in the laundry area and our closet. We still need to do the linen and hallway closet. Ray and Bonnie came and finished up the plumbing-showers, correct faucet in bathroom, and drain in kitchen-yeah! The doors have arrived and they will be delivered next week.

Porch Ideas

Pergola Idea too...just what you need...more ideas for more work...
Unfinished floor/ceiling

Bran Muffins

Bran Muffins

In a small saucepan:

2 c. boiling water

To water add 5 tsp. baking soda,

1 c. oil,

2 c. sugar,

4 BEATEN eggs,

1 c. brown sugar,

and 1 tsp. salt.

In very LARGE bowl combine:

5 c. flour

3 1/2 c. bran flakes

2 1/2 c. bran buds

1 c. wheat germ

2. c. raisins

2 c. chopped walnuts/pecans (optional)

Pour lukewarm mix over these dry ingredients and add 1 qt. buttermilk-mix by hand. Stir to moisten and store in refrigerator up to 6 wks. Bake 375 for 20 minutes. Better to use Crisco to grease muffin tins rather than using paper liners.

The tomatoes are getting big. Three red ones.

Bathroom almost completed

The airconditioner, fireplace, and air circulator is done

Jerry's crew from GPS heating and cooling came on Tuesday to finish up some work. Thanks for programming the thermostat!

Chest for other bedroom-I did all myself

Screens for bedrooms

Yeah, we did it

This project was great when we used the drill

Making drawers for a chest-mother at it again.

Mother painting the boxes for her bedside tables.

We painted trim boards as well. Pretty good for an almost 90 year old! She claims what she really needs is a nail gun!

A visit to the Design Center in Kohler, Wisconsin

My mother's visit

I picked up my mother in Jefferson, Iowa. She has moved back after retiring to Lago Vista, Texas for 26 years. She came to help out with the house and she also helped me get ready for my new kindergartners.

Shower all grouted with slate floor tiles

Peter tiling the upstairs shower

How is the garden doing?

Tiling tips

Closing in on the tile projects. Some thoughts and helpful hints, maybe. We happened to be at a Home Depot one Saturday and stumbled into a tiling demonstration. First timers this is a great place to see exactly what you are up against. (If you are doing a 3' x 3' project) . Actually it's not a ba d demonstration. Next, get the spacers and use them. A heavy duty drill with a mixing paddle, 5 gallon bucket, hose for water for the grout and thin set and rinsing the mixing paddle (mix outside) , knee pads, proper trowel(s) , thinset, grout, patience. Add a small amount of water to the bucket to start the mix. Always water first . Mix thinset so it's the texture of peanut butter, loose peanut butter not that thick organic stuff. Before you get to this point be sure to square . I see that I'm not going to finish this and I've got to organize my thoughts a little better so I'm going to stop and edit later

Screwing It Up

Jesse finding the ideal location.
Putting holes in the new wall.

Jesse's side.

Loading the first roll.

Perfection.