Sunday, December 29, 2013

BRRRRRRR!

The weather has turned bitterly cold since our one day heat wave on Friday.  Tonight the lows are suppose to reach 30 below zero.  The day's highs didn't get above zero.  John and I did venture out to church, but the weather took a toll on the attendance--only about 20 folks showed up.  We stopped at JD's on the way home to see what the kids got for Christmas and for John to pick up a socket set he had left there a week or so ago.  The kids showed us what Santa had brought and then we got invited to stay for lunch.  It felt good to get out of the house and spend some time visiting with family.

The remainder of our day was spent watching the NFL and staying toasty warm in the house.  We are counting the days until we can head south to warmer weather.  

An update for family:  Sam developed a cough and fever. Matt was concerned since it's just been two weeks since his appendectomy. He took Sam to the emergency room this morning and found he has a slight case of pneumonia and is now taking an antibiotic.  Sam will see his surgeon on the 31st and he will probably check to see if things are improving.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Above Freezing

Today our weather took an amazing turn for the better.  The high temp for today was 35 degrees.  It felt like spring outside after highs below zero and nighttime lows around 27 below.  The sun was shining for most of the day and we had some melting.  Unfortunately, the bitter cold and snow will be returning tomorrow with very high winds.  It will be a good day to stay inside.

With the nice weather, John spent sometime outside clearing more snow and doing a few chores in his shop.  Matt came down this afternoon with Sam and the guys worked on disconnecting the power from our big air system.  We sold it and the buyers will be coming on January 2nd to dismantle it and haul it away.  

I spent my day working in our home office cleaning out more files and generally giving the room a good dusting and wiping down.  There was quite a bit of dust from doing the tiling and today was the first I had time to attack the dirt.  This evening we started watching some of the bowl games--it looks like it's going to be wall to wall football this weekend.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Busy Time

I skipped doing my blog over Christmas due to our busy schedule and to just enjoy the holiday.  Monday morning found John and I out bright and early to take care of some errands in Bemidji before his eye doctor's appointment.  By the time that was done, it was lunch time and we thought to grab a quick lunch at BK.  It seems everyone else had the same idea so it took a little longer to get our food than usual.  Matt, Sam, Hanna, and Rachel were already at BK when we got there, so we were able to visit with them while we ate.  They had been doing Christmas shopping for Sara.  Our next stop was the grocery store to pick up a few items and then we headed back to Bagley where I had a PT appointment.  I received a TENS machine to use at home.  This uses electrical impulses, administered through attached pads, to relieve pain.  It really works--my back pain is under control.  This is not a cure, just something to give some relief until I can have the nerve denervation done in January.  We also spent some time Skyping with John's brother and his family in Kentucky.

Sara was hosting our annual Christmas Eve family gathering and we were asked to bring several foods items.  Monday evening was spent baking and making salads, cookies, and desserts.  Everyone arrived right on time to enjoy a delicious meal of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, salads, snacks, desserts, and much, much, more.  If you left feeling hungry, it was your own fault.  The grand kids are all old enough to join in the games, so we had a fun time around the table learning a new one and sharing lots of laughs.  John and I got home just in time to see the last half of "It's A Wonderful Life".  Watching that movie is a traditional Christmas Eve event for us.

Since our family gathers on Christmas Eve, this allows our kids to spent Christmas with their in-laws.  John and I had a quiet Christmas Day, but were able to Skype with Amy and Susie's families and see all of the kid's Christmas gifts along with several demonstrations.  It was almost as good as being with them for the holiday.  Matt and Hanna stopped in while we were Skyping with Susie's family, so they were all able to visit for a while.  Since we had received another several inches of snow, Matt stopped down to do some plowing.  

Today it was more or less back to normal.  John did some shoveling of the walkways while I did a little laundry.  Matt stopped back again this morning and did a little more plowing.  It's been windy so the light fluffy snow drifts in across the end of the driveway and makes it difficult to get out to the road.  

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Cold and Quiet

Not much happening with us.  The cold temps have kept us pretty much housebound this weekend except for an hour or so at church this morning.  Everyone you talk to is getting  "cabin fever" and the snowbirds that have hung around until after Christmas are getting anxious to get on the road.  We still have a little less than three weeks until we're out of here.

 

Friday, December 20, 2013

Basketball and Baking

We had a pretty quiet Thursday.  John went ice fishing with Matt first thing in the morning and they caught their limit in Northern Pikes.  Some are now in our freezer.



While John was gone, I spent some time doing laundry and straightening up around the house.  I also received a call from Pain Management to discuss the results of Wednesday's test.  The shots numb the troublesome nerves and I keep of record of pain levels until the numbness wears off.  The results were good, so the earliest they could do a nerve denervation was January 10th.  After much discussion, I have decided to have the procedure done before we head south.  We really want to get out of the cold, but I also want to be able to enjoy life and if this procedure works like the doctor says, I could be pain free for a year.  So, we will head south the middle of January.  We also found out our renter has lost his position where he works, so our house is now available to us this winter.  He'll be out by Christmas so we don't have to worry about when we arrive and how long we'll stay in Texas.

Right after supper, we left to watch Hanna play basketball and Julie participate in the Pom Pom Dancers at half time.  Hanna played half of the varsity game and all of the JV--varsity won and the JV lost.  A player can't play both halves of the JV game and both in the varsity, so it makes it difficult for the coaches to know where to play some of the better players.  The JV struggled in the second half of their game because their best rebounder couldn't play due to playing the entire varsity game.


Julie in the front row
 

Hanna passing the ball
 
 Hanna getting ready to shoot a
free throw - she made it!

This morning I went up to Sara's for a much needed haircut.  She is off from school right now, so she is back working in her salon for a few days.  While I was gone, John finished cleaning the new tile in the hallway and, later in the day, we got everything put back in place.  We are slowly but surely getting cleaned up from the tiling job. 

After supper we got ambitious and made some more Christmas cookies.  My prediction was right, we ate the first bunch with some help from Matt.  Once again, I mixed the dough and decorated while John did the rolling and cutting out.  


 

 
  Here are a couple of photos from Jenni and Julie's school program.


Jenni getting ready to play guitar
 

Julie (middle) singing with her class

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Busy Day

Not much happened yesterday--I had a PT appointment where I received an electronic stimulation treatment which is suppose to help relieve pain.  I go back again on Monday for another treatment and to possibly get a smaller machine to do treatments at home. Matt came while I was gone, visited some with John, and gathered up all his tools used to do the tiling.  In the evening we went back up to the school for the elementary winter concert where  Jenni and Julie sang with their classes.

Today was a pretty busy one.  John and I were up and out the door fairly early to get the car to the dealership in Bemidji for an oil change and servicing.  From there, we drove down the street to the clinic where I got another round of diagnostic injections from Dr. Gessner.  It hurt every bit as much as it did last time and I'm glad it's over with.  Since I couldn't eat before the procedure, we went right to Country Kitchen for lunch.  John was looking for a special hook for one of his carvings, so we stopped at a craft store before heading to the accountant's for our 1:30 p.m. meeting.  Since we closed the business and had a sale, we needed to see how all of this would affect our taxes and what needed to be filed to completely close out Uniquely Wood.  

Matt called John while we were gone asking if he wanted to do some ice fishing.  Since it was a nice sunny day with warmer temps, John decided to go.  Matt caught two large northerns and John managed to get five crappies.  The guys are planning to go out again tomorrow morning.

Monday, December 16, 2013

The Weatherman Was Right

The weather forecast called for our daytime highs to be near thirty degrees today and that is exactly what happened.  After being below zero for much of the past week, it really did feel almost balmy outside.

First thing this morning, the electric company sent a service person out to remove the meter for rippling the electric heat.  Since we installed a low temp alarm, we felt there might possibly be a problem if the heat is rippled for any length of time while we're away.  We'll see what the cost is this winter without ripple and decide if that's what we want to do in the future.

Since it was such a nice day, John and I decided to return the extra tile, cement board, and tile cement to Home Depot.  We received a store credit for the returned items so we spent some of it on a couple of small rugs for the laundry area.  It was a little afternoon when we left HD, so we stopped at BK for a quick lunch before making one more stop at Menards on our way out of town.

We took a little detour on the way home to stop in at Matt's to see how Sam was doing.  He was released from the hospital this morning and seems to be doing okay.  He is on some pain killers and walks a little crooked, but he will probably head back to school on Thursday as it's the end of the semester and he has some tests to take.  Sam has some restrictions about lifting anything heavy and running and will be out of basketball until after the first of the year.  The doctor said he is young and in very good shape, so the healing process should be pretty fast.

Once we got home, John got the downstairs bathroom back in operating mode and then we headed up to the school for the Concert Band and JH Band winter program.  Hanna plays the bass clarinet in the Concert Band with Josh and Rachel playing in the JH Band.  Josh plays the French Horn and Rae plays in flute.  It was a very enjoyable evening.


Hanna (In Middle) 

 Rachel - She really did play, this
was just a pause for the flutes


Josh with his French Horn

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Unplanned Happenings

John and I had a list of chores we wanted to get done this weekend.  I started out in the office working on our finances and getting some of our files ready to take to Texas.  JD needed some help replacing the faucet on his kitchen sink, so John spent some time up as his place and between them, were able to get the job done.

Matt, Hanna, and Rachel came down Saturday evening and while Matt grouted the new tile in the bathroom and hallway the girls and I visited and watched a movie.  Sara called and said Sam was having severe stomach pain and throwing up.  She felt it might be appendicitis and wanted to take him to the emergency room in Bemidji.  We decided the girls should stay with us and Matt left to pick up Sara and Sam.  After an hour or so, Matt called to tell us the doctor was performing a few tests to make sure it was the appendix and not something with Sam's kidneys.  Another call confirmed appendicitis and the decision was made for surgery this morning.  Hanna and Rachel remained overnight with us and this morning John took them home so they could shower and get into clean clothes.  Matt called and said the surgery went well and that Sam was being moved into a room.  The girls wanted to see their brother, so John took them down to Bemidji.  I stayed home as I didn't think my back could take sitting/standing most of the afternoon in a hospital room.  When John got home, he told me I made the right decision not to go.  We haven't heard when Sam will be coming home, but he should only be in for a day or two.  Bad news for him is that he won't be able to play basketball for 3-4 weeks.  Matt already called his coach to break the bad news to him.

Friday, December 13, 2013

More Basketball

Matt arrived early this morning to lay the tile in the bathroom and end of the hallway.  He got that part of the job finished after lunch and then headed home.  The tiles need to set before grouting, which he'll do tomorrow evening, so then everything can dry overnight without anyone walking on it. 

One of the folks who rode home with us last week from the Mpls. airport stopped out today to drop off a check for her share of the rental car.  She also brought along a beautiful loaf of homemade Christmas bread.  Evelyn stayed to visit for a few moments and shared she is flying off again to visit her daughter in southern Indiana and hopes she'll have better luck with the weather.

John spent most of day helping Matt and I changed bed linens and straightened up our bedroom.  Late this afternoon we headed back up to Clearbrook to watch Rachel's first basketball game.  She's in 7th grade and was very excited to play today as two previously scheduled games were cancelled due to bad weather.  JD, who teaches at the school, also came to watch her game.  The Bears had anther decisive victory only allowing their opponent to score 11 points.  Rae played a good game with several assists and great ball handling.  When this game was over, John and I hung around to watch most of the 8th grade game.  We ordered a pizza from the local pizza parlor and picked it up on the way home where we settled in for another cozy night of TV.  


That face says it all about Rae.
 


Rae guarding


 Rae bringing the ball up court

Thursday, December 12, 2013

A Little Warmer Today

I know it's hard to believe for those of you who have not experienced way below zero temps, but when they do get up to single digits, it really seems almost balmy outside.  Today we reached a high of 6 above with a few snow showers here and there; however, it still isn't warm enough to be outside for any length of time.

Today I did some more work on the finances so we'll have everything in order for a visit to the accountant next week.  Closing the business means there will be a little more to them this year.  John kept busy doing a few chores around the house and then took the toilet out of the downstairs bathroom in preparation for tomorrow's tile installation.  He also did some snow removal down by the shop.

My back felt much better today, so late this afternoon we picked up Matt and headed off to Mahnomen to watch Hanna's first JV basketball game of the season.  On the way, we stopped at DQ for a quick supper before heading out of town and meeting up with Sara at the school.  The Bears won both the JV and Varsity games by decisive scores.  Tomorrow afternoon we head up to Clearbrook to watch Rachel's first game. Here are a couple of photos from tonight.


 

 

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Cold Again

Since the bitterly cold weather has kept us house bound, we have been using the time to do a little Christmas cookie baking.  I mixed the cookie dough, John did the rolling out and cutting, and I did the decorating.  If we're not careful, we could have all of them eaten by the weekend.  I'm hoping to save enough for our family gathering in a couple of weeks; however, we can always bake some more.

This morning I had an early appointment at the pain management clinic.  John and I visited with Dr. Gessner for a while and he laid out what he wants to do next.  Today I received injections that numb, just like you receive at the dentist.  I was then sent on my way with a pain evaluation chart.  Every hour I was to stop, reflect on any pain I was having as the numbness wore off, and then record the level using the numbers on the pain chart.  This was only a diagnostic test to see what nerves or muscles are involved in causing the pain.  I have to have the exact same test again in a week.  The insurance companies require two sets of this test before approving the next procedure the Dr. wants to do. Depending on how things go, I might just wait until after we return from Texas in the spring.  We both need to get out of this cold--it sure doesn't help my back. This test today required about 10 injections--not so sure I would have had the nerve to go through with it if I knew what was coming.  I'll really have to steel up my courage for the next time.

Since I couldn't have anything to eat before the procedure this morning, right after we left the clinic we headed to Country Kitchen for some breakfast.  Next we gassed up the car, made a stop at Target for a few items, and then did a little grocery shopping.  It was mid afternoon by the time we returned home and we spent the rest of the day and evening hunkered down in the house staying toasty warm.  Tomorrow the temps are suppose to get above zero for the first time in over a week.  Should feel like a spring day--just kidding!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Bitter Cold Continues

The bitterly cold weather continues to keep a strong grip on our area, but at least we don't have the ice that hit the Dallas area.

Even though my back has been feeling a little better, we skipped church yesterday as I didn't want to risk sitting for over an hour on a hard surface.  The day was spent watching a couple of those crazy NFL games on TV and getting a start on the Christmas cards.  I also finished putting the jigsaw puzzle together.


Last Friday several guys from Aberdeen, SD, came to the shop to see our vacuum system which is currently on consignment with Acme Tool Co.  They seemed very interested when they left and, first thing this morning, called John to say they wanted to buy it along with all the piping that goes with it.  Only drawback is they can't pick it up until after the first of the year.  Elias said they would keep it touch and let us know when they'll be coming so we can make arrangements to have someone here in case we are gone by then.  

I got the Christmas cards finished up and now need to pick up some stamps at the post office to get then sent on their way.  John did some more driveway plowing this afternoon and this evening went into Bagley to watch Hanna play basketball.  He still hasn't returned home, so I don't know if Clearbrook won. I think tomorrow will be cookie-baking day.  It should be a good way to keep warm. 


 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Bitterly Cold

The temps dropped to 20 below overnight and didn't get above zero all day today.  At least we had sunshine which gave the illusion of warmth outside.  That was quickly dispelled upon opening the door to the outside world.

The weather has pretty much dictated what John and I are able to do--NOTHING!!  The past two days have been spent inside keeping warm, watching TV, working on a jigsaw puzzle, and taking care of the regular household chores.  Matt started tiling our laundry area and downstairs bathroom while we were out in Sacramento, but got called away to do snow plowing the past several days, so that job is on hold right now.  John took some time today getting the bathroom floor ready for tiling so hopefully Matt will get back here to finish up next week.

Needless to say, we are anxious to head south, but that is on hold until I can get my back pain under control.  The injections I got on Tuesday finally kicked in this morning, so today was much better.  I go back again next Wednesday for another series of shots and then we'll see what happens from there.  

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Digging Out

The snow finally stopped falling sometime overnight leaving us with a lot of digging out to do.  Matt arrived around 3:30 a.m. to plow out our driveway before he headed off to take care of the rest of his customers.  He worked all day and still has five more driveways to do tomorrow.  Below are a few photos from yesterday.




Today John spent sometime outside clearing the path to the stove and the doorways to the old shop.  In between trips outside, he decided to paint a couple of his completed wood carvings.  They have been sitting here at home waiting for him to have some free time--well, he has plenty of free time now.  He did a great job and they look real nice.  I had bought a new jigsaw puzzle, so I got that out last night and started working on it.  I should have it done in a couple of days.  The temps are suppose to drop below zero tonight and the colder weather is forecast to hang around for some time, so we'll be hanging out around the house and trying to keep warm.


 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Rest of the Story

Before I get to today's happenings, I'll finish up about our trip to CA.  Susie's family went to church Sunday morning while John and I stayed at the house--my back just wasn't up to sitting for an hour or so.  We all hung out around the house until Zach left to head back to college and then we went for a walk on a recreational path several miles away.  The end of the day found us at Leatherby's for ice cream.  Mike, Jesse, and Susie ordered the Big Daddy Dave while Maggie, Isaac, John, and I settled for The Sampler.  That allowed us to eat six different flavors of ice cream. 


 Susie and the kids took us to the airport on Monday afternoon to catch a 1 p.m. flight.  We arrived in Minneapolis around 6:30 p.m. and spent the next three hours eating supper, walking around the airport, and finally settling at our gate.  The plane we were to travel on arrived half an hour late and we finally boarded around 10:15 p.m.  John and I were so glad to finally be on the final leg of our trip.  As the plane was pulling away from the gate, it came to a stop, and the pilot announced the runway in Bemidji was too icy for landing and that our flight had been canceled.  It was now about 10:45 p.m.  The passengers were told to go to another gate for re-booking.  John and I talked to the agent and found we couldn't get a flight until 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night and that we couldn't be guaranteed of getting on that one.  He told us we would probably be stuck in the cities until sometime Wednesday.

It was then that I got a bright idea.  I told John we should rent a car, get out of the cities, drive as far as we could, stop for the night, and continue on in daylight.  Matt had called and told us it had snowed all day up here so we needed to proceed with caution.  I then got another idea, ask if there was anyone who would want to split the cost of the car rental and go with us.  We had four folks who wanted to take us up on our offer.  

Next stop was the car rental section of the airport.  I won't bore you with all the hassles, etc. we went through, but we finally ended up with a van.  One of the ladies with us drove out of the cities, and then John took over the driving.  We arrived back in Bemidji around 6: 30 in the morning and then spent the next half hour or so digging out the cars so we could all get on the road home.  John and I pulled into the garage around 7:30, unloaded the car, and then decided to lay down for an hour or so and get a little sleep.  An hour later Matt called to see if we got home and then Dr. Gessner's office called and, after some discussion with his nurse, I was told he wanted to try some other treatment and I could come in that afternoon for some injections.  So much for getting some sleep.  A big winter storm was in the forecast and we needed to stock up on groceries since we had been gone for almost a week.  We also had to pick up more tile for our hallway, so we took care of everything while we were in Bemidji.

Now for today.  All I can say is snow, snow, snow, and more snow.  It came down all day and the local weather says we got anywhere from 10-16 inches.  John has been busy trying to keep the pathways to the stove and his shop passable.  Thank goodness it's a very light, fluffy snow and easy to shovel.  We were pretty much housebound all day and it looks like we'll be snowed in for the next day or so until the plow opens our road and Matt can get here to plow us out.  John just came in from checking things outside and said the drifts down by the old shop were up to his waist. 
 

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Home Again

John and I had a wonderful time visiting with Susie's family over the Thanksgiving holiday and especially enjoyed the warm weather.  A couple of other families were invited to join us for dinner on Thursday and brought several delicious dishes and deserts to share.  There was plenty of food and everyone was pretty much stuffed the remainder of the day.  We taught the kids how to play "31" and spent the evening playing cards and watching the Muppets "A Christmas Carol" movie.  Our original plan for Friday was to spend the day in San Francisco, but my back was acting up and I couldn't tolerate the two and a half hour car ride, so we all just hung out around the house.

Susie's family has the yearly tradition of cutting down their Christmas tree this holiday weekend, so on Saturday we all loaded into their van and headed off to the foothills of the Sierras.  We met up with Zach and Becky along the way and, after about an hour's drive, arrived at one of the many tree farms/apple orchards in the area.  Picking out the perfect tree is not a fast process as there are hundreds of trees to look over.  After a couple of hours of walking up and down the hills, comparing many trees, and then discussing the pros and cons of each one, the perfect one for this Christmas was finally selected.  Once you have selected your tree, you yell "Cutter", and a fellow with a saw tries to find you and when he does, helps you cut down the tree and takes it down the hill to be wrapped in netting.  You then pay for the tree and get it loaded into the back of your pickup or tied to the top of your car.  It was late in the afternoon when we finished with the tree, so we stopped at "In and Out Burger" for supper.  This is a must experience when visiting CA.
 Christmas Tree Farm



Jesse (back to camera) Maggie, Zach,
and Becky looking over some trees
 


It's getting late, so I'll finish our adventure on tomorrow's blog.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

In California

After spending most of yesterday either sitting in an airport or  a plane, we landed in Sacramento around 7:30 last night.  It was about 40 degrees warmer than at home.  We were met by Mike, Jesse, and Isaac.  When we got to the house, we met Zach's bride to be.  We all sat around visiting until 11 pm west coast time.  John and I were pretty tired by then and headed off to bed.  One other big piece of news.  Early Monday morning the plumber called and came out to switch over our wood furnace and electric boiler.  We had been waiting for months to get this done.  Nothing like the last minute.  That's it for now.  Didn't bring the laptop so am doing this on my Kindle. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Bitter Cold Weather

The last several days have been bitterly cold and we have been pretty much housebound this weekend.  Late Friday afternoon we headed off to Grand Forks to watch Sam's basketball game and do a little shopping.  Unfortunately, the Bears lost by almost 20 points, but we had a good time watching the game.  When we came out of the gym the temp was 0.  It sure was a cold walk to the car and both of us appreciated the heated seats on the long ride home.

Since we are heading to California on Tuesday, we have both been busy getting things around for our trip.  Matt came over on Friday so John could give him a crash course on our home security system and JD stopped in on Saturday for the same reason.  We had planned to have our electric boiler hooked up before now, but the plumber just didn't get to us in time, so now someone has to come and keep wood on the fire.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get this taken care of right after we return home. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Dusting of Snow

Even though our day was cold and windy with snow showers, Matt and John went off early this morning to finish up the job they were working on.  They worked all day and when they got to the final section, all the ridge cap they wanted to install was crimped.  It was unusable and more will have to be ordered before they can complete this job.

Since it was such a cold blustery day, it seemed like a good one to bake some chocolate chip  cookies.  There were also a few little messes from the alarm installation, so I got all of that cleared away.  My ebay auctions have ended and the last items were shipped yesterday, so I'm not selling anything else until we return from California.  Tomorrow night Sam plays his first basketball game of the season, so we'll be heading to Grand Forks to watch his game.  Since it doesn't start until 7:30 p.m. it will probably be a very late night.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Security System

Yesterday was a pretty quiet one.  John and I were up bright and early to head off to Bemidji so I could get a fasting blood test.  That took all of 10 minuets and then we went to Country kitchen for some breakfast.  Next, we made a short stop at Wal Mart for a few items before heading home.  The rest of the day John helped Matt cut down some trees while I did some cleaning upstairs and got things out of the way in preparation for today.

The security person arrived around 9:30 a.m. and was here most of the day installing our new system.  We now have one that detects motion, alerts us to any open door, and if the temperature in the house goes below 45 degrees.  If we don't respond to the alarm, a security company will notify us and, if that's not possible, contact the authorities.  We think this will give us some peace of mind about the house while we're in Texas.  Now we just need to remember to set it when we go out and how to disarm it when we return.  John was in and out of the shop this morning doing more arranging and then headed into town for his dental appointment to get a cracked filling replaced.  He's now done with the dentist.  The rest of our day was spent relaxing and watching some favorite TV shows.

 

Monday, November 18, 2013

Cold and Cloudy Day

The temps remained on the cold side today with cloudy skies--it just felt damp and raw all day.  John went out to his shop on and off and managed to get an air filtration system hung from the ceiling.  I did laundry and some straightening up around the house. Also got more ebay sales ready to ship.  Since we're leaving next Tuesday for Sacramento where we'll be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with Susie's family, I've been trying to keep caught up on laundry and household chores.  With the cold weather settled in, there's not much happening around here.  We're both looking forward to heading to Texas--only about five weeks until we can get out of this cold.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Lazy Weekend

Saturday morning John was up bright and early as he had to pick up Sam and get him to the school by 8 a.m.  He then stayed until the afternoon watching the basketball team scrimmage and then play a couple of 30 minute games.  I decided to stay home, get some bread baked, and take care of a few other chores.

Today was the usual Sunday routine--leisurely breakfast and then off to church.  The weather turned cold and rainy overnight, so this afternoon was spent inside keeping warm and watching the NFL.  John did make a quick trip up to Matt's to talk some basketball strategy with Sam.  We also a spent some time this evening  Skyping with Amy and the kids.  It was good to visit with them and catch up on what everyone has been doing.     

 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Nice Weather Again

The weather was nice and sunny today with temps in the 40's.  According to the long range forecast, this was probably the last warm day for a while.  We're suppose to get rain/snow showers over the next couple of days.

John took advantage of the warmer weather to work out in his shop getting more machinery set up.  He also gave his new table saw a trial run, said it works just fine, and is very happy with his purchase. I gave the kitchen a good cleaning today, even going so far as to clean out the fridge.  It's amazing what you find shoved to the back on the shelves. The cabinets also got wiped down and the floor mopped.  That was pretty much how our day went--things are pretty quiet around here.

 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Another Nice Day

The winds died down overnight and with the sunshine, the day was pretty nice.  John met up with Matt at the job site and they managed to get the tin on both of the lean-to's.  John actually got home in the early afternoon.

This is the building the guys worked
on today.  As you can see, most of our
snow has now melted.

While John was gone, I took care of a few household chores and then decided to take a run to Bemidji to pick up a few grocery items we missed the other day.  The road still had some ice and snow in the shaded sections that were nice and firm when I left; however,  by the time I returned, it was nothing but mud and slush.  I wasn't thinking about the mess under the car when I pulled into the garage and after about 10 minutes, I had a big puddle of muddy water on the garage floor.  John was kind enough to sweep it out after I backed the car out.  We let it sit outside until it dried off and then parked it back inside.  Oh, the joy of winter weather.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Little Warmer Today

For once the weather forecast was right on and we did have a warmer day with plenty of sunshine.  A good portion of the snow melted away and we are down to gravel on the driveway and all steps and walkways are nice and dry.  The only drawback to the day were the very strong winds.

The original plan for the day called for John to work with Matt helping him install some metal sheets on a lean-to roof.  With the strong wind, that job got put on hold as the guys didn't want to risk handling the metal sheets in the wind.  Hopefully they'll be able to get to that job tomorrow.

Since he didn't have to work with Matt, John got all the tile and other supplies we purchased yesterday unloaded and stored in the garage.  He then went to work assembling his new table saw and building a stand for it.



 Our old two car garage is now John's new
shop.  New table saw is the yellow piece of
machinery.

It's obvious the colder weather is here to stay, so I spent some time today putting the light-weight jackets away and getting out our heavier coats.  We will be heading to Texas in about six weeks, so I also started sorting through some of the things we'll want to take and setting them aside.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A REALLY Cold Morning

The weather cleared overnight allowing the temps to drop to a very chilly 3 degrees above zero.  Once the sun came up, the temp was up to nine above by the time John went out to put wood in the stove right before breakfast.   The big question of the morning was whether or not to plow the two to three inches of snow that dropped over the past few days.  The forecast is for warmer temps (in the 40's) and sunshine so the snow should melt, but will it melt completely.  John decided to plow the section of the drive between the garage and the road so if it melts enough, we can get back to gravel.  Not plowing and not enough melting can mean icy ruts for the rest of the winter.

Since the weather was nice and sunny, we decided it was a good time to head to Bemidji after lunch and purchase the floor tile for our next project.  Before stopping at Home Depot, we did some banking and picked up a few grocery items.  The tile we wanted was on sale and, fortunately, there were enough cases left for us to do our project.  We also picked up the sub-flooring we need to install, cement, and grout.  John also found a table saw on sale for his shop.  Once we got everything loaded into the truck, it was getting to be supper time, so a stop at BK was next on the agenda.
Our evening was a pretty quiet one--just watched TV and worked on the computer.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Cold Monday

Even though our day stayed pretty cold, John did manage to get the snow shoveled off our walkways and the cement slab in front of the shop.  Since there's no heat in the there,  he brought this summer's  potatoes and onions up into our attached garage.  They will stay nice and cool in there, but shouldn't freeze.  He also put insulation in the windows of his new shop.  This serves a double purpose-- help keep the heat from going out the single pane glass and also prevent folks from looking in the windows to see what's in the building while we are away.

I felt ambitious today so I tackled the job of cleaning out all the office files, sorting what could be thrown away and what needs to be kept for taxes.  It always feels good to get that particular chore out of the way each year.  Our evening was spent watching TV and I started making my 2014 calendar.

 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Lazy Day

I think the inch or so of snow we got yesterday is going to hang around for awhile.  The forecast is calling for lows in the single digits for the next two nights with the daytime highs barely above freezing.  It's hard to believe that this time last year we were in warm, sunny Texas not giving a thought to the weather up here. 

Following a leisurely start to our day, John and I headed off to church.   Since it was cold and very windy, we spent the rest of our day hunkered down in our toasty warm house watching the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers.  The hunters had some success today, Rachel shot a nice button buck.  Our other big news is our oldest grandson got engaged.  Hopefully we'll meet his bride-to-be when we're in Sacramento for Thanksgiving. 

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Opening Hunting

We had more snow overnight with temps in the upper 20's and some strong breezes.  John was very glad he decided not to hunt this year.  He had just steeped into the shower this morning when Matt called saying Hanna shot a deer and might need some help as he was hunting on a different portion of land with Sam and Rachel.  John called Hanna and she said she was just getting down out of her stand, was going to try and find a blood trail, and would call him back.  Thirty minutes later she called, said she found the deer, and needed his help.  John asked her if she gutted the animal and she said, "No, I'm waiting for you."  Grandfathers do come in handy at times.  John bundled up and drove to Matt's place where he found Hanna and Sara at the edge of the woods with the deer.  After taking a couple of photos, John gutted the deer and helped them get it to the garage where they hung it up.  The rest of the family didn't have any luck today.



JD bought a plow for his four wheeler and needed some assistance getting it installed.  He brought the four wheeler and plow down to the shop and John, JD, and Josh spent a good portion of the day getting it hooked up.  They also spent sometime up in the house eating the chocolate cookies I made last night and when the job went longer than anticipated, stayed for lunch before heading back to the shop to finish the job.


The new plow is ready to go.  As I've mentioned
before, you can see the shop is now a storage spot for
lawn mowers, etc.

We started the day thinking it would be a pretty quiet one with not much to do since it snowed off and on and was pretty miserable to be outside.  Just shows you never know what each day will bring.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Cold Day with A Little Snow

John needed to get a fasting blood test this morning, so we were up bright and early and off to the clinic in Bemidji.  There was no wait at the lab, so we were back out the door in about 15 minutes.  Since we didn't have any breakfast, we headed off to Country Kitchen for something to eat.  

After a leisurely breakfast, we took care of some errands.  John had an old socket wrench he purchased from Sears many years ago and the last time he used it, it broke.  There is a lifetime warranty on Sears tools, so we stopped at the Sears store and they fixed it right away at no charge.  Our next stop was the AT&T store where we found out what we need to do to get internet service while in Texas.  We'll be setting that up the end of December right before we leave here.  From AT&T we stopped at Home Depot and Menards. We are contemplating replacing the carpeting in our downstairs hallway, and since it's such a heavy traffic area, are looking at tile.  We found some that we liked and, best of all, it's on sale till the middle of November.  That will give us plenty of time to take measurements and check on the cement and grout left over from our bathroom project.  The final stop was the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit and produce.

This afternoon a representative from a security company stopped in to tell us about the different packages they offer.  We settled on one that will monitor our house's temps and also have an alarm system.  This will be installed next week.  John said his biggest problem will be remembering the alarm code.

This weekend is opening rifle season and there were hunters and campers with four wheelers everywhere.  With the light dusting of snow we had today, the hunters should be pretty happy.  Matt, Sam, and Hanna will probably be out in their deer stands bright and early tomorrow morning. 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Sunny Day

Sitting inside looking out at the beautiful sunny day, one would think that the temps were nice and warm.  However, once you opened the door, you got a blast of very cold air.  John didn't do much outside, but took his truck to the car wash and refilled one of our small propane tanks.  I spent sometime on the computer filling out forms for John's conceal and carry renewal and looking up some information about a local security firm.  Since our business has closed, no one will be here everyday while we are in Texas, so we are looking at options for checking the heat level in the house and notifying someone if it fails.  We have started thinking about Texas and what we will need and want to take.  This pretty much sums up our day.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Another Appointment

This morning it was John's turn to head off to the dental office for his yearly checkup and cleaning.  The dentist found an old filling was beginning to crack, so he has an appointment in a couple of weeks to get it fixed.  Glad that was found before we head to Texas.

Today the winds had died down, so after lunch got on the lawn mower and bagged up more of the leaves in the yard and dumped them on the garden.  He then cut more firewood and got it stacked.  The big load of wood that was delivered this summer is slowly shrinking.

I baked a couple of loaves of bread today and did some more cleaning and straightening up in the downstairs.  The weather didn't warm up very much today--I'm afraid it's here to stay.  The hunters are glad to see the cold since that usually gets the deer moving.  This weekend is opening deer season here in northern Minnesota.  John is not planning to hunt this year, but Matt's family will be out in full force.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Cold Weather

Even though the calendar says fall, our temps feel more like winter.  Our low for tonight is forecast to be in the mid teens and the highs for the next ten days will only reach into the mid 30's.

As I mentioned the other day, this week is one for appointments.  We left the house early yesterday as I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment for my yearly mammogram.  I was in and out in under 30 minutes and then we headed to Perkins for breakfast.  John and I took care of some banking and then made a stop at Wal Mart to restock the pantry.  This morning was a dental appointment to get my semi-annual teeth cleaning and checkup.  Once again I got a good report.  While I was gone, John got some more wood cut and did some maintenance work on a pump for our wood stove.  This afternoon he cut more wood and worked out in his shop getting some of his tools organized.  I took care of some laundry and worked on the computer sorting some photographs for a book I'm trying to get done.  This pretty much covers our last couple of days--really not too much interesting to share right now.

 

 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Wind

With the time change, it's light when we get up now, but the afternoons are much shorter.  I feel like we are slowly slipping into the pit of darkness because as each day passes there is less and less daylight.  I always look forward to December 21, the shortest day, because after that I know each day will bring more daylight.

We had a pretty quiet day--started off with church and then spent most of the afternoon watching the NFL.  John and I have a couple of appointments this week, but nothing special on our agenda.  

 

Friday, November 1, 2013

Pretty Quiet

Things have been pretty quiet around here.  Matt called on Wednesday evening and asked John if he could give him a hand with a large building he is constructing, so John has been working with him for the last two days.  With John gone all day I have kept busy finishing up my bedroom project and packing up the items I sold on ebay.  This afternoon I made a run into the post office to drop off my packages.  The weather was actually pretty nice with sunshine and temps in the low 40's.  As long as the snow stays away, we'll be happy. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Painting and Out of Town Trip

Since the weather has turned cold and the outside chores are all done, I decided it was a good time to work on my bedroom project.  On Monday I got three of the walls painted in a nice shade of green and yesterday painted the fourth wall in a color called Oklahoma Wheat.  With all the furniture moved away from the walls, it was the perfect time to wipe down all the baseboards and give the room a good cleaning.  Now I need to decide which of my photographs I want to put back on the walls and then the project will be completed.  I'll post a picture of the room when I get everything back in place.

While I kept busy painting, John worked on the wood pile cutting, splitting and stacking more wood.  He also worked on organizing his new shop and moving some of his tools from our attached garage.

After such a busy couple of days, we decided it was time to relax and headed out of town to Grand Forks.  We arrived around noon, so our first stop was Culver's for some lunch.  From there we hit Michael's and Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  As we were driving down the street to Sam's Club, we saw a brand new Hobby Lobby and just had to stop.  John and I spent the next 45 minutes wandering through the new store and found some artificial flowers we thought would look nice with the new paint in our bedroom.  Our next stop was Sam's Club with a final one at Cabela's back on the Minnesota side of the Red River.  On the way home we made a stop at Subway for a couple of subs for supper and ate them in front of the TV while we watched Survivor.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

La-ate Night

It was after 12:30 in the morning before we got home from Sam's football game and after 1 a.m. before we finally got to bed.  The Bears put up a good fight, but lost with a final score of 38-24.  The football season is officially over for this year.  Since we got home so late, we slept in this morning and pretty much vegged out today.  John did manage to get some of the leaves picked up with the lawn mower and put them on the garden.  I got the wallpaper border down in the bedroom and cleaned the walls so now I can get started on painting.

Jenni's birthday is on Tuesday, so Joanne had both sets of grandparents up to the house for supper and a little party.  We spent a couple of hours visiting and playing a game of "31" before we hit the road back home and called it a day.

 Jenni modeling her new hood sweatshrt

Friday, October 25, 2013

Finally, A Sunny Day

After what felt like a week of cloudy rainy weather, the skies cleared off today and we had some much appreciated sunshine.  The temps were even a little warmer, but the winds were quite strong with gusts up to 30 mph.

John took advantage of the good weather to cut, split, and stack more firewood.  The woodshed is just about full.



 
Since the ground was a little bit drier, the guys that bought our storage trailers came this afternoon and hauled away the remaining two trailers.  They had gotten stuck before when they tried to pull them out, but it went very smoothly this afternoon.  Now John has another job--tearing down the wall and smoothing out the dirt bank.

I kept busy today listing more items on ebay and getting the month end finances done.  Not too much happening around here right now.  Tomorrow night we head up to Hallock, MN for Sam's second playoff game.  It's about 2 1/2 hours north of us and about 20 miles from Canada.

 
 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Cold is Here to Stay

I checked the long range forecast today and found that our high temps will only be in the mid to upper 30's for the next ten days.  We were hoping that some warmer weather would return, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.  It certainly has been an unusual fall with temps being at least 10 degrees above normal at the beginning of the month and now the sudden drop to below normal with snow showers just about every day.

Fortunately, John got the outside chores done just in time and now spends an hour or so each day cutting firewood.  He actually prefers cutting it when the temps are on the cooler side.  I spent some time today packing up my recent ebay sales.  All the DVD's I listed sold, so I had to get them ready for shipping.  I still have a few more items to list, but I'll wait until the weekend to get that job done.  My next big project will be getting the bedroom walls ready for painting--I just have to get motivated to get started.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Big Win for the Bears

Just got home from the football game where the Bears won 38-14, beating the number 8th ranked team in the state.  This was the first playoff game, so now they will play again this Saturday.  The weather was pretty cold--temps in the low 30's with snow flurries--so John and I bundled up with many layers of clothing and managed to stay warm.  The only thing that got cold on me were my hands.  

This was the perfect ending to a busy day which started off with an early morning appointment with my arthritis doctor for my six month checkup.  After I finished up at the clinic, we stopped at Perkins for breakfast and then did a little grocery shopping, stopped at Home Depot to pick up the paint for the bedroom, and then made one final stop to purchase a small air compressor to be used in John's shop.  We relaxed for an hour or so, and then headed off to the game.  Now we're both tired and ready to hit a nice warm bed.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Another Chilly Day

The clouds hung around all day with rain/snow showers off and on.  The temps didn't even get out of the 30's

John spent some time this morning down in the shop moving a piece of machinery and making room to park his truck.  The old machine shop is now going to be used as a garage/storage area.  While he was busy with that job, I did some laundry and spent quite a bit of time on the computer getting tickets for our trip to California for Thanksgiving.  John had enough "miles" for a free ticket, so we only had to pay for mine.  This afternoon he bundled up and cut more firewood and stacked it in the woodshed.  The rest of the day we just took care of a few household chores and stayed toasty warm in the house.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A Light Dusting of Snow

The rain of yesterday turned into a light snow overnight, so with the weather being so yucky, we were pretty much housebound today with the exception of our outing for church.

John and I spent most of our afternoon watching the NFL with little naps every once in a while.  I did manage to open the paint samples I got at Home Depot the other day and paint a few sections of the bedroom walls to see what color I liked and I think I have finally settled on the colors I want.  Just have to let them sit a day or two to make sure.  Since it was such a dreary day, I baked some cookies to help warm up the house.  That was pretty much our day--nothing much happening around here right now.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Gettng the Woodstove Ready for Winter

Yesterday was cold and rainy all day, so we made a quick trip to Bemidji for a few groceries and then spent the rest of the day taking care of a few household chores.

Today, Friday, the rainy weather cleared and we had a nice sunny, but chilly, day.  We had our first hard frost the other night, so, since the weather was better today, John and I decided it was a good time to get the flower beds cleaned out.  The frost really did a job on all of the plants, so it was time for them to go.  

Since we have closed our business, JD won't be here everyday to fire the outdoor wood stove while we are in Texas.  Since we will be heating the house with electric heat while we're gone, we needed to figure out what to do about the stove since it operates with circulating water.  He didn't want to empty it and then refill it with water each spring, not to mention the possibility of not getting it completely emptied and end up with a cracked pipe.  John decided to go with half antifreeze and half water in the stove, so yesterday he ordered two 55 gallons of antifreeze and today pumped it into the furnace after draining about half of the water.  It was a cold job and took most of the day, but now it's done and it shouldn't have to be dealt with again.


 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Rain Free Day

After several days of cloudy skies and showers, it was a blessing to have the sun shine today.  Even though the day was sunny, the temps were on the cool side.  It looks like our warm weather is a thing of the past and won't be back for months.

John took advantage of the sunshine to cut up more firewood for the winter.  He also took care of a few chores in the old shop--putting some anti-freeze in the floor's heat pipes and blowing the water out of the systems.  Since the sale is now over, I started working on my next project--redoing our bedroom.  The new quilt I ordered for the bed arrived yesterday, so now I am trying to decide what colors I want on the walls.  I also got the laundry caught up and some cleaning accomplished.  I didn't get much time to keep the house caught up over the summer, but now that the sale is done, we are slowly getting back into a normal routine.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Rainy and Cool Day

We had a cool, rainy day, but John did managed to get outside in between showers and get some more wood cut.  My day was spent doing laundry and getting more of the summer clothing put away.  Since we had a football game this evening, I decided to have our main meal for lunch and made a new tuna casserole recipe I found on the internet.  It turned out to be pretty tasty, even if I say so myself.

I must admit I was a little hesitant about attending the game this evening in the rain, but by late this afternoon, the rains stopped and, as we headed north to the game, the skies cleared.  Only problem with that was the temperatures dropped quite a bit.  It was 37 degrees by the time the game ended.  I wore my insulated underwear top with several other layers under John's heavy hunting jacket and wool socks.  I did manage to keep fairly warm.  The Bears were very successful, winning the game with a score of 51-6.  Sam threw for a touchdown and also ran for 1.  This was the final game of the regular season.  Playoffs start next week, so we'll be watching at least one more game next Tuesday evening.

 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Another Rainy Day

We had a beautiful sunny day Sunday, so we took advantage of the nice weather after church and spent most of our afternoon cleaning out the garage attached to our house.  Being busy with the sale most of the summer and September, things had piled up in there and it needed quite a bit of organizing.  Since John is setting up a new little shop in our detached two car garage, we were able to move quite a few things into that shop.  We now have much more space for our car and a nice clean garage.  Once we were finished with this chore, John started cutting up some of the big pile of wood we had delivered earlier in the summer.  He has a long way to go before that job gets done.

It's a good thing we tackled those jobs yesterday, as we have had a pretty steady rain most of the day along with much cooler temps.  We left the house bright and early this morning for John's followup appointment with his dermatologist.  He got a clean checkup and doesn't have to go back for a year.  We then did some banking and grocery shopping before hitting the road home.

John called Matt as we were leaving Bemidji to let him know we were on our way home.  He was bringing his lawn mower over to our place so he could store in the shop for the winter.  The guys then moved the machines that John kept off the sale up into the new one.  Matt then stayed for lunch and spent some time just visiting before heading out.  

Hanna had a volleyball game this evening, so we ate an early supper before heading up to the school.  In the final game, Hanna served 14 straight which led their team to a victory.  The B team won 2 and lost 1.  It sure was fun to watch her play such a big part in the team's win.


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Rainy Day

John and I took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and cleaned the porch, getting it ready for winter.  We vacuumed the carpet, getting rid of the many ladybugs that had congregated there over the past few days.  John also brought in the grill and removed some furniture, wind chimes, and other little items and stored them in the old shop.  One thing about closing Uniquely Wood, we now have a massive storage facility.  We are waiting for a frost to finish off the flower beds and that looks like a strong possibility for tonight.  A freeze warning is in the forecast.

I had been having trouble with a flareup in my autoimmune system which caused extreme itching and burning in my eyes.  I wasn't getting any relief with the drops I had from the doctor, so bright and early this morning John and I headed to Bemidji and the Walk-In clinic.  It didn't take too long to get seen and I got a prescription for a steroid that should help calm the inflammation.  I see my arthritis doctor in a little over a week and, hopefully, he should be able to shed some light on the problem.  After we left the clinic, we stopped at Country Kitchen for breakfast and then made a stop at Walgreen's to pick up my prescription.

Since it rained all day, we were pretty much housebound this afternoon.  We did spend a few minutes down in the shop recounting some of the wood and box inventory for possible sale and then just vegged out watching college football and working on the computer.  We just finished watching the four OT win of Penn State over Michigan.  It was sure one exciting game. 

Roofing Being Done Everywhere!!

John and I have been keeping pretty busy over these last several weeks.  Our weather has turned quite warm, but the nights cool down very ni...