It looks like the Romertopf had never been used. If we didn't already own the big turkey pot, we would not have known how to use it. Soak the pot for 15 minutes, put in prepared food, bake starting in a cold oven at high temperature-turkey is 475 degrees for two hours-13 pound bird. It comes out moist and wonderfully browned! I will have to look at the cookbook for chicken and roasts. Hurray!
Romertopf clay pot for $15.00 and an Original Garlic Baker for $1.50. The Clay Pot is the chicken or beef roast size and just great as we have always had the Turkey big pot. What a steal!
This joint is right in front of the house and has become uneven due to settling in the clay soil we now live in. The slab is 12' x 12' reinforced concrete with a #4 rebar in a perimeter beam and wire mesh. I've been wondering how to correct it for some time now. This morning I had an idea to saw a control joint at a diagonal across the slab from one corner to the other allowing the slab to settle back into place. Might work? Nothing to lose at this point I guess. Expert at work!!!! Ha. See the results later.
Small tiles = more work. South wall needs a couple more rinses. Not much more to go and the learning curve is still growing. Write it down. When dry the grout we chose wasn't much different in color than the tile.
Wipe it down early. New sponge with scrubby on the back. Wiped it by using swirling stroke with wet sponge and letting the excess grout build up on the sponge. The tile wasn't straight or even so this let the grout fill in the low spots. Works well.
Shower needs waterproofing and will get four more glass blocks to complete the enclosure. Oh yeah! faucet. 
Almost completed window in the downstairs bathroom. Trim will be painted white and tile will be on the lower shelf when done.
Recipe: Take one turkey drumstick ice fishing. Remove skin to use for bait while drumstick waits in the cab of the truck for a couple hours. Upon reaching home boil the squat out of the turkey in a pan of water. Oops! add more water because the water has almost boiled off while watching the Onion Movie. At the same time add salt, pepper and, left over chopped onion from brat supper a couple days ago. Boil a little longer while the movie finishes. Remove turkey to cool and then bone and shred back into pan with broth. Add whole bunch of frozen parsley left from some meal at Christmas, chopped. Those week old sauteed mushrooms need to get out of the fridge so add those too. Left over egg noodles - you bet - got a bunch left from the over production while making pork stroganoff last week? Time has grown late, soup is hot, so store in the stinky cab of Peter's work truck over night and then transfer to the front porch next day in preparation for supper. Heat and enjoy!
Home Depot sale bench tile with grout to follow. Masonry enclosure with glass. Need tile anyone? I have about three boxes left.
View of the basement bathroom from the hall of doors with tile yet to get grouted.
I took a measurement of the amount the porch moved the first year and it appears that by adding another step surrounding the existing concrete it has stabalized everything so far.
Got an idea this morning to cut a diagonal line across the slab allowing the concrete to settle back in place. Nothing to lose i guess.
Frost heaving was minimal this year from the appearance. No cracks that are apparent so the insulation and reinforcing must have worked. March 18- I have come to the conclusion that this was not frost. It's the #### clay soil. It appears that it takes more than a year to settle disturbed clay. Might need to go. A save is possible it we can tip it back in place and pour some dead men on the low side. Next month?
This was a building in Plymouth that they are gutting. We thought this was a unique way to cover up the mess! Click on the picture to read the quotes-pretty cool.
When you click on this picture you can really see the frost on the fruit trees in the distance.
Lots of snow had melted in MQT. Tonight it is suppose to get colder and snow again. 
Andrea had Friday off from school so we traveled to Stevens Point to watch a swim meet that featured several swimmers that Peter had coached.
Peter and Andrea Rhoades of New Holstein, WI, announce the engagement of their daughter, Jana, to Jared Bevill, son of Jeff and Jackie Bevill of Weatherford, TX.
The bride-to-be is a 2001 graduate of Marinette High School and is a petty officer on the Coast Guard Cutter, Cypress, stationed in Mobile, AL. Jared, a 2004 graduate of Graham High School, is a petty officer on the Coast Guard Cutter, Zephyr, stationed in Pascagoula, MS.
The couple is planning a September 2010 wedding in Weatherford, TX.
The Eagle Herald article is here.
Peter and I went for a beautiful drive this morning checking out a few local lakes to see how ice fishing is going. One 34 inch Northern on this lake, but not much else. You can see the fish laying in the snow on the right side of this picture-enlarged. Wilke Lake had more fishing and tip ups. In the distance you can see a retreat center owned by Indiana University-really a cool place. We went to Hennings Cheese factory-our new favorite cheese place around here. We also found a farm that sells jumbo fresh brown eggs. Some good football on this weekend-go Vikings (?) beat the Cowboys!
