CATCH-UP

Wow--can it really be that long since I put something on this blog? I know the reason why. Carrie and I worked hard to keep the attic project moving in an effort to have it at least usable for our church's "Kids at the Point" camp in June. The two weeks before camp were especially intense, with a list of jobs we had to complete each day.

Our Pastor Chris was building a bunkhouse to house the boys who came to camp from a distance. I had promised to make the curtains for that, so I made red and white gingham curtains for 4 large windows and a panel for each of the 2 doors on each end of the bunkhouse. The doors were steel and I found magnetic curtain rods to stick on--the easiest curtain hanging I've ever done! Carrie and I made the curtain rods for the 4 windows out of large dowels, drilled holes in the end and screwed round wooden drawer pulls in the ends for finials. I made good use of the Dremel tool we had bought to cut off the Phillips end of the screw and grind it to a point so it could be screwed into the dowel.

Carrie and I also made 4 window boxes for the bunkhouse. Two were put on, we planted flowers in them and (since it rains about every other day), the flowers are doing great!

As of Tuesday of this week, the sheetrocking in the attic is completely done!!!!!
Hallelujah! So Wed. I did the mudding in the ends of the gables. Soon that will be finished and painting can commence and continue until completion. We actually are going to finish this project--something I wondered about for awhile.

One of the biggest accomplishments on the attic project was replacing the little windows with larger sliding windows. We had never done this kind of job before, where you have to create a larger rough opening and everything that goes with it. It took us two different days. We rented a Bil-Jax crane so Justin could go up in the bucket, where he basically worked for hours. We could hand tools through the opening to him once it had been cut out, and the work progressed from there. Needless to say, we learned a lot. Justin was sold on that rig and it sure was a safe way to work up so high. (I went up with him once and thought, "What am I doing up here even with the shingles?" But it seemed totally normal until I looked down.)

We haven't only done remodel work. We take time out to give piano lessons, make our trips to town to wash clothes, shop (seems like we hit Lowe's about every week), and do family times.

Carrie is in Redding, Ca., now attending a worship school. I know she's enjoying it because we don't hear from her every day. She'll be home by the second week of July.

Since Carrie was gone, we brought my Mom, Lillian, here for 10 days. She loved being in on our activities. She says it's much more interesting here than at home.
She even climbed the attic stairs and sat up there watching me work in the mornings.
(She loves the coziness of attics as much as I do.) Mom went home last Sunday, so we combined taking her to Fargo with a grilled steak meal at Lance, Gretchen, Tori & Logan's house. The kids always seem to be excited when Grandma and Grandpa come!

Carrie flew out of Omaha, so we had a trip there. Sometimes it seems like we are coming and going all the time.

Last Friday night and Saturday our pastors hosted a girls' overnighter at the new Bunkhouse on their property. The girls were so excited about being able to stay in this new bunkhouse! We did a tea party Saturday morning and Mom was the special guest. A great time was had by all!

Soon we'll celebrate the 4th.; then on the 5th. my brother Wendell & Judy and their son, Brian with his family, Susie & Melina, will be visiting overnight. This will be our first opportunity to host Brian's family in our home and we are excited about it! Brian is like our missionary in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Since Brian spent a summer with us, we kind of consider him another son.

The months roll by, but we choose to savor every bit of the beauty of summer. My flowers have been especially gorgeous this year, with all the rain. And we love the freedom of easy coming and going that the summer weather affords. Hope you are having a great summer too!

APRIL - a BIG Anniversary, Family Times, More Attic Work--

Before April, we had a weekend visit by Lance, Tori & Logan. The kids were very eager to see the attic. Logan ran right in the south gable and exclaimed, "I can see our car way down there!" It does look like "way down there" from that high up.
Tori thought it was a BIG playroom. (Can hardly wait until we are at that stage.)

April 10 was our 40th. wedding anniversary. I could almost think, "how did we ever get to this year?" Just living it out a day at a time, I guess. We've had an interesting journey, living in several states with Justin doing a variety of jobs.
God has given us 3 wonderful kids, 2 beautiful daughters-in-love, 5 fun grandchildren with a 6th. on the way, and friends across the country (even the world). We still love each other and enjoy being together, especially enjoying adventures in the Lord together. We praise God for His faithfulness to us through these 40 years!!

Wendell & Judy treated all three of us to an anniversary meal in Watertown this month when they brought Mom here for a brief 4-day visit. We had a lovely meal and a good overnight visit with Wendell & Judy. (They wanted to see the attic too.) Mom, Carrie and I had fun doing some "wardrobe-updating shopping" for Mom while she was here. We need to get together with Mom every so often, because Carrie helps her step forward in her thinking. It's a grandma-granddaughter thing--had some great laughs together!

We headed out to the Black Hills to celebrate Liv's 3rd. birthday and Anika's 7th.
Justin brought the old Chevy pickup back to Dirk's and came home with a much newer
Dodge extended cab, short box with topper. Carrie and I took my car. We girls did our usual visit to "Bully's Blends", (a coffee shop-bistro located in a former grain elevator building in downtown Rapid City) and made our regular visit to "Someone's in the Kitchen" (a very inclusive kitchen-aupply store).

Anika and Liv were happy with their Grandma-made birthday gifts. Dirk was home, so the guys enjoyed good visiting time and like Thor says (did "guy" things).

Anika was baptized that Sunday (by her Dad, no less), so we were happy we could be in on her special day. We enjoyed a Sunday dinner out at TGI Fridays with Dirk's family and Nancy's parents. Had a great time there.

Since coming home Carrie and I have had a productive time in the attic. We actually got the 3 doors cut out AND mounted for the storage areas. It seems like almost everything we do is for the first time, so we pray a lot and look to the Lord to help us make things work. The doors look good in their places. Every kind of finishing job we complete makes the project look more finished. I also picked up the new windows last week. Now we have to figure out how to get them put in. (It's really high up there!)

April's been a good month. We came home from Piedmont to beautifully blooming tulips in front of our house and they're still at it. I love the colors of spring!!

IT'S MARCH!!

Our March kind of came in like a lamb. And the mild temps have continued, leaving us with standing water, thawing snow and soon-to-be mud everywhere. It rained much of today. Carrie and I were in the attic all day and could barely hear the gentle sound of it coming down. We finished with the sheetrock in the south dormer today.

We are probably the slowest mudders around. I thought I liked doing it, until I am still not quite satisfied with how it looks after about 3 layers. But it is definitely getting better.

Early last week Carrie and I made a quick trip to see Mom at Hillsboro. We had a perfect couple of days and got to visit Wendell and Judy, who came in Sunday evening; we visited Myron and Juliet at their cozy Fargo home on Monday afternoon; and Aaron, Angie and kids came to Mom's Monday evening for a visit. It was great to have some good times together. Driving weather was perfect--mild, no wind, dry interstate. This time of year, it doesn't get any better than that!

This past weekend Lance, Tori and Logan came for a visit. We got to show them our attic project and got a "thumbs up" from the grandkids. They know it is going to be a playroom for them and are eager for it to be finished.

The winter is flying by--it probably helps to have a remodel project going. It takes our focus off winter and onto a positive change. Already I am enjoying putting boxes and totes in the storage areas Duane created behind the walls in the attic. That is a VERY GOOD CHANGE!

FEBRUARY MUSINGS...

IT'S STILL WINTER!!! If you live anywhere in the Dakotas, you know that's true.
We are now shoveling the snow off the porch--UP--not down from the porch or straight across! That's new for our years here in Astoria. And Justin's trips to work this week have been interesting. Monday morning he waited two hours, for daylight and for the plows to have a chance to get out there before he did. Good thing... the plow had made one pass on Hwy. 28, so he drove most of that on the wrong side of the road. Tuesday he took the pickup because it was still blowing hard at bedtime Monday night. It was the right choice--only a track from the Astoria corner to Toronto.

On the warmer side of things, the insulation and heater in the attic have made our upstairs cozier than before. Speaking of the attic, Carrie and I have mudded everything once and are on the second go-around. I kind of like mudding. It's not so different from spreading other things--like frosting. And I've probably frosted thousands of cookies in my lifetime. Of course, I could never do it for money. I'm way too slow.

Soon Carrie and I will try to frame and hang the three doors to the storage areas. We are experiencing all kinds of new ventures! We dream of the day when we can actually start painting, and see our vision become reality. We'll get there!

THE WORK CONTINUES...

Carrie's been working at mudding this week. Justin came home with supplies Monday and she went right at it after supper. She has almost used up the first pail of mud he brought home. Duane, the edges of the chimney came out really nice with the special metal-edged tape.

Today I went upstairs with Carrie and she and I worked most of the day doing sheetrock. Now the main walls are finished; just the gables left there. We almost totally finished the sheetrock on the stairway too. I rather ENJOY doing this job. I know it's amazing, but it kind of reminds me of quilting--working with pieces that have to fit together just right. Except here you can do some "fudging", fill it in and cover up the mistakes with mud.

But the best part of all is that I WAS ABLE TO USE THE DRILL AND ACTUALLY PUT SCREWS IN THE SHEETROCK MYSELF!! It was empowering!! I didn't think I had the strength, but I surprised myself. So Carrie and I felt like we had a very productive day. We will most likely go at it again tomorrow.

Weather is hanging with very high humidity and is supposed to do that for several days. So it's a good time to be working inside and really accomplishing something.

TWO DAYS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

Sorry I didn't get to the computer on Saturday to do an update. About the time I was ready to do so, Justin came downstairs and needed a helper for him with his sheetrock work. And that's where I spent the rest of the day, except for meal prep and dish washing breaks.

Duane had planned to leave Saturday, but with the bad weather and roads in Oklahoma, he stayed one more day. The timing turned out to be perfect. He built the guest bedroom wall out to accommodate the door we had purchased and got the door to the attic hung. It was quite a big job. It's now in place with the hardware on.
Duane also got the heater hung in the attic and it works perfectly. He and Justin tried it with the thermostat. While Duane was doing his work, Carrie began mudding the sheetrock. Justin and I poked along fitting angled sheetrock pieces (like a jigsaw puzzle) on the wall and some of the slanted ceiling. Now about all that is left for sheetrock work is the two gables. I think Carrie and I can piddle at that this coming week.

For now our plans are to take Monday off, be in town Tuesday and probably not do anything in the attic until Wednesday morning. We have all pushed pretty hard during this time and need to regroup. We trust Duane has a safe trip all the way home. He left today (Sunday) at 7:00 a.m. after his morning coffee and a good breakfast. What a special time we had together as family--working hard, laughing a lot!, sharing stories and reminiscing from our childhood days on the farm. This has been a time we will treasure forever! And Duane and Linda's selfless gift to us will bless the grandkids and our neighbor girls. We believe they will be blest by our Lord Jesus for their loving giving! We love them for it!

And a great big "thank you" to you who have followed the blog and to those who have prayed for us during this intense two weeks. We know we have received benefits through your prayers!

A LIGHT ROOM!

It's amazing what a difference the color of the walls and ceiling make in a room!
After the insulation was in, the dormers looked so much bigger. Yesterday the first sheetrock was put in the 7' square ceiling area and around the ugly chimney. THAT sure looks better! As more sheetrock went in during the day, the room kept looking lighter and lighter (a very good thing). What a lesson in the difference between dark wood walls and light ones.

Justin did more work with insulation (it's almost 100% finished now). (Justin had taken Thursday and Friday off from work, too, so more could be done in Duane's last days here.) The other two slowly worked on sheetrock. Hopefully it will go a bit quicker for them today. The area is small and every bit of sheetrock that is put in is angles and corners with cutouts. I sent Carrie up with butcher paper today to see if that would help to push into the corners, get the dimension, and get the sheetrock cut for placement. We'll see...

While the "builders 3" worked, I cooked and baked to keep them fueled up. The day seems to fly by, and when it's bedtime, I'm almost as tired as they are.

When Duane brought a piece of sheetrock into the guest bedroom yesterday, he must have bumped the portable clothes rack I had there for his clothes. It went crashing to the floor. Carrie and Justin wondered what the racket was downstairs. Whereas in the past, Duane has been known as "the Torch", "the Demolition Man", he now has a new name--"the Destroyer!". Anyway, we have good laughs teasing him about his varied roles! So I have been saved the decision of "what do I do with that clothes rack after this project is done?! Truthfully, I will probably get another small one, because Mom will need somewhere to hang her clothes when she comes for her visits.

Until tomorrow...

THE NEW ROOM TAKES SHAPE!

Every day the attic looks more like a room. Tremendous progress was made on Wednesday. The styrofoam vent chutes were put in place by Duane & Carrie in about an hour. They made quick work of them, using the stapler to attach them to the walls and ceiling. Justin came down by mid-morning and said it was time for him to go to Brookings with his pickup to leave his load of tear-out junk at the Brookings dump. Then it was on to Lowe's to pick up insulation and sheetrock. It was blowing hard from the northwest, so he had a slow trip home.

Most of the insulation was put in yesterday, with Duane & Justin working until 7:30 p.m., when they finally called it quits and had supper. Carrie and Annette were at church doing children's ministry. When we got home, we brought two of "our girls" with us and took them up to the attic to see the progress. They loved it!!
So I had them tell Duane what they thought of it when they came downstairs. It was good for him to hear their descriptions of "cool, awesome, love it"! This project is being done for them, as well as the grandchildren (not to mention us who live here. We're going to love the storage space, and I suspect we will enjoy making use of the coziness of this "new" room too, for other activities.}

Today the sheetrocking is going on full-bore. They did the ceiling first, then around the chimney. More final insulation is being put in too. While the 3 workers were doing that, I was downstairs cooking. I got inspired and decided to make rolls for the afternoon lunch. I hadn't done that in years! I had some yeast that had an expiration date of 02/90, so I wasn't sure of the outcome. (I prayed over the batch of rolls.) But they came out looking great! I made a big pan of rolls and a pan of tea ring, so the crew's afternoon lunchtime of hot cocoa and fresh rolls should be a hit.

Justin is wondering about all the goodies that are coming out of the kitchen these days. But I'll have to remind him that I am not getting anything else done of import either. When I do extra projects like sewing, something goes by the wayside. And those three big batches of cookies I made last week--there is probably a third of those left. The cupcakes from Monday are all gone.

With the insulation in, very little heat is needed in the attic in the middle of the day when the sun is out. Our high temps are in the single digits, so we can see it will be an easy place to heat.

More later...

A DAY OF GREAT PROGRESS!

Tuesday dawned sunny! What a treat to pull up the blinds in the kitchen and see that the sun was soon going to shine over the horizon. It was my day to go to Brookings and wash clothes, grocery shop, and buy the latest items needed for the "carpenters." So while I was gone, the three of them accomplished a lot.

Duane worked at wiring all day and got the majority of it done. It seems like we will have more outlets in the attic than we have in the rest of the house. Not quite, but it seems that way. Then there will be two track lights and one light in each gable. The east wall storage area has three lights and the north has one. There is a light in the stairway, and there will be an electric heat panel just below the ceiling on the north wall. So all of those areas, besides the outlet he gave us on the east wall of the guest bedroom made for a lot of work. He also replaced another outlet in the guest bedroom that was all cracked up and hardly worked. Those improvements will be wonderful!

Justin and Carrie finished the stud work and the furring strips. So today they will be putting up the air chute vents (styrofoam sheets that fit between the studs and go in before the insulation). It's interesting to see Carrie up there with her "work clothes" on, safety glasses on her face, using a saw on the studs or whatever. She especially likes the drill. They have made good use of the cordless tools we bought before this project started: a skill saw, a reciprocating saw, a drill and jigsaw. The only one they haven't used yet is the jigsaw.

Weather is very cold this morning, but I guess the attic wasn't quite as frigid as yesterday morning, because the wind is not so ferocious. Duane is getting reacquainted with North country winters!

Duane and Carrie have quite a time with each other--lots of teasing going back and forth. I told them after Duane leaves, they'll have to talk on the phone every so often because they'll be missing sparring with each other!

AND THERE WAS LIGHT!! AND THERE WAS POWER!!

This was a day of accomplishment and great victory!! Duane got the electricity hooked up to the attic by about mid-morning! This changed everything. Our weather had turned to a vicious cold northwest wind which caused the temp in the attic to plunge (as well as the guest bedroom where Duane is sleeping). He was able to plug in a heater and take the chill off, so work in the attic was possible.

Our weather was basically a blizzard today with poor visibility even in town here.
Justin had planned to work only a half-day, getting off at 10:00 a.m., so he was home before noon. Then two of our young friends from town (who didn't have school due to the blizzard conditions) came to the house. (They knocked and knocked--I thought it was the pounding in the attic.) I invited Jasmine and Kayla to join us for dinner since I had made plenty of meat loaf, baked potatoes and fresh green beans. We had fresh strawberries and ice cream for dessert, so it was a feast.

So Justin worked with Duane and Carrie all afternoon in the attic. They're almost done with the furring strips on the rafters and did more stud work also. Duane has almost finished all of the wiring. I will have outlets and switches everywhere. (You have to understand what that will mean to someone who had to be careful where I plugged in the hair dryer. Throwing a breaker was not a strange occurence at our house.) The wiring in the attic will be first-rate, and I am EXTREMELY excited about that!!

The girls stayed for much of the afternoon. While Kayla took a nap on the couch, Jasmine helped me in the kitchen. She made a double batch of cupcakes while I washed dishes. Jasmine is 13, and she loves to learn to do things in the kitchen. She likes all of my gadgets and got to use my mixer and Carrie's hand mixer. She also did the frosting. By then Kayla was awake and the two of them had quite a time decorating the cupcakes with sprinkles, etc. You can probably picture the cleanup I had to do on the table and floor when they were done. But they had fun!! (Their baking was heartily appreciated by the attic crew when they came downstairs for an afternoon treat of hot cocoa and fresh cupcakes!)

Duane, Justin & I made a trip to Menards in Watertown yesterday afternoon to get more supplies. I'm so thankful we did, because we would not have wanted to do it this afternoon. Justin was VERY HAPPY to get home in the late morning. Visibility was more than interesting close to Astoria. Justin has also taken the next two days off, so there should be a lot of progress to report.

We anticipate another great day of accomplishment tomorrow.

THE WORK PROGRESSES...

On Friday we began to see shape taking place in the attic. Studs were set to begin to define where the walls will be. As Duane got to one of the gables, he could see how frustrating it was going to be to put the furring strips and later, the sheetrock in that area. It's all angles and nothing matches! It will be a test of his expertise (or whatever).

He has begun getting some placements of wiring receptacles, and will close in the hole in the hallway ceiling by the stairway. This morning he enclosed the chimney (kind of makes the room seem even smaller, but it needed to be done). I have to remember that children like cozy, small places to play. And that's what this will be when it is done.

Thankfully the forecasted weather has not hit very hard. We had rain, but our temps have remained warm enough so that the ice that had formed on the branches of the trees last night seems to be gone now. The branches were waving pretty good in the wind last night. Our power has cut out 3 times so far, but each time has come back in about a minute. FOR THAT WE HAVE BEEN PRAISING GOD!!

THE STAIRWAY IS IN!!

The new stairway was in as of 3:00 p.m. yesterday!! Hooray!! That was a great sense of accomplishment for Duane & Carrie. And it changes everything. Whereas the attic was formerly off-limits unless we pulled down some very heavy steps, now we can walk into the guest bedroom and walk right up!

Later in the afternoon Duane, Justin and I went to Watertown to do some major stocking up on supplies at Menards. We bought the supplies for wiring in the outlets, a box where we can later add lines to update the upstairs wiring, lights in the attic, gables, storage area & stairway, a heater, etc. We also got furring strips to build up the rafters to accommodate attic chute vents (basically styrofoam that goes in before the insulation to prevent moisture buildup), 2" x 4"s to put in studs for the walls, etc. Of course, we needed nails, screws, saw blades, etc. We were very thankful for good driving even if there was fog closer to home.

Today Duane & Carrie have already done one wall with the furring strips and were putting studs to the north wall. It is really amazing and encouraging to see progress that makes the attic look more like a room.

We continue to believe God for cool enough temps to keep the precip from being freezing rain. WE DO NOT WANT THAT!!

In case you don't know--I have the best brothers and sister in the world! We're having a good time together. And Duane and Carrie really have quite a sparring time together! He says she got more than enough of the sass in our family!! (I think her teasing makes the tough jobs go easier.) I reminded them during our morning hot cocoa/cookie break that they will now share memories to remind each other of every time they see each other (like how Duane looked bedecked with insulation--even hanging off the end of his nose!).

Until next time--Annette

Wednesday--More of the Same

Wednesday's work went well, even though Duane would have liked to accomplished more. There was more tearout to do. Duane also had to take out some of the ceiling into the hallway to accommodate the stairway at the top. All of that demolition meant more plaster & lathe, more insulation, more studs cut out. The hole going up into the attic is now open.

So this Thursday morning he and Carrie began putting some sheetrock on the walls of the stairway. The first step comes into the guest bedroom. Then there is a landing, and from there the steps will be laid up into the attic. Duane intends to have the steps in before this day is done. He and Justin also plan a trip to Menards in Watertown after Justin's home from work. They have quite a list of supplies to lay in for the attic work.

Weather here has been foggy so far all day today. It is mild, just very heavy with humidity. We had some wintry mix yesterday--rain that sounded like pellets and light snow. I guess the main roads are okay, but side roads are slippery. Please pray with us for a downgrade in the forecast. We need the electricity to stay on and to miss out on freezing rain here.

(We celebrated the victory by Brown in Massachusetts!)

Tuesday--A MESSY DAY!!

What a great day of accomplishment on Tuesday! But it was a terrible mess. Duane kept tearing out the walls and ceiling for where the stairs will go, and Carrie carried boxes of wood slats and barrels of plaster down the stairs and out the door. Duane discovered insulation in the ceiling (a surprise to him), which really added to the mess as it came down over both of them in the tearing out process.

I went outside before 9:00 a.m. and started a fire to burn the slats and other throwaway wood. I also bagged a lot of bags of plaster.

Justin came home after work with some supplies in his pickup and the bags of plaster were loaded into that for later dumping in Brookings. The upstairs bathroom, hallway, dining room, etc. are all now depositories for carpenter's tools, building supplies, etc. Duane commented to me that not everyone has a table saw in their living room. I informed him that we prefer to be "on the edge" when it comes to decorating innovations!!

Today Duane is putting in supports for the stairway, and Carrie is closely observing the details of measuring, leveling, using shims, etc.

By the way, Duane said he was pooped out by 5:00 p.m. yesterday. We were all thankful! And he didn't get up until 7:00 a.m. today--a real forward step!

(to be continued)

THE DEMOLITION MAN IS HERE!!

Duane arrived here about 4:00 p.m. yesterday (Monday) after driving straight through from Oklahoma. I think he started out about 3:00 a.m. and drove in fog most of the way!! (Glad it wasn't me.) As soon as he arrived, he, Justin & Carrie started carrying all his supplies upstairs. Now our bathroom is more interesting than ever--not only is our tub filled with boxes of Christmas decorations, the floor is half-covered too.

Before long I could hear the sounds of pounding and crashing. That kept up until suppertime. Thankfully Duane allowed himself time to eat a good meal, relax and visit. He didn't start in again until 6:00 this morning! So we have a good idea of how this is going to go. He is taking out the walls of the closet where the new stairway will go. I think the ceiling will go too. It's the messiest of jobs to remove old plaster and lathe (as you know if you've ever done it).

We'll see where our progress is by tomorrow.

A NEW PROJECT!

The holidays are past; blizzards and snowstorms have changed the landscape of our town and the area in several states, and now we refocus on the promise of a New Year.

So what has occupied our past week and a half? Carrie and I have been emptying the one and only storage closet we have in our house in anticipation of converting it to a permanent stairway. That stairway will lead to our small attic, which will be converted into a kid's "hangout". This coming Monday my brother Duane will be coming to begin the project. Duane is one of those preachers who will tackle about anything and has done so many times. His experience with fixup and construction jobs (wiring, plumbing, sheetrock--you name it) will be a HUGE blessing to us. Since we don't know where or how to start, we are very thankful he has offered to come and do that for us.

I will try to do updates, so you will know about our progress. The neighborhood girls are very excited about this project, because they have been promised they will be the first to have a sleepover in the newly-converted attic. And the grandkids know of our plans, so they are excited to see what the room will become. I know at this point they can't visualize it at all. We did show the empty attic to Tori and Logan at Thanksgiving. I wanted them to see the "before", so the "after" will be very dramatic for them!

I guess today was partly prep for Duane's arrival. I ended up baking 3 kinds of cookies. We'll feed him good so he'll have energy for work!