Photos Galore!

I just took Lynea to the airport this morning. It was so sweet to have her here all week. We did a lot of fun things at a very leisurely pace with much relaxing in between. Highlights included fishing with Curt; watching fire dancing at the Pembertons'; a big family game night with almost all the local relatives; fish tacos with Curt, Joel, Dustin and kids; a bit of construction; and the Cass County Fair. Here is some visual evidence of fun times :-)

First things first, we went shopping. Some places have bad shopping, some have fantastic shopping, and then there's Nisswa, Minnesota.


I was really pleased to show Lynea my lot and cabin in progress.


Hey, I got an address!


And apparently, I'm in good company! I spotted this mailbox about a mile down the same road as my place. Is it possible that Joe bought more real estate when no one was looking???


We did some wild berry picking


Lynea was crowned flower queen


Malachi and Sarah in their dad's garden


My favorite local street sign. Do I think you'll like the name too? Yeah, you betcha! I saw this on my way back from the ReStore where they sell all the used materials as a fundraiser for building houses. I bought a really pretty used entry door that has a crescent shaped window with a spider-web-looking design and a nice side-light for $100. I also got a bathtub with the stall for $110 and some more shingles for $10/bundle. Score!


Upon returning from the ReStore, I found my electricity hooked up. Yay!! I was so happy to be quite literally empowered!


Having electricity made it so much easier to work while Lynea helped me. We got half the sill placed really well. It will be so much easier to do the next steps now that I feel confident this part was done right. We made sure to outfit Lynea with all the important safety gear.


Lynea was way big on cleanliness. At her urging, I cleaned the job site up and it really felt great!


We had lots of fun at the fair on Thursday. We saw pigs race! Actually, that was the main event of the evening. It lasted a couple hours and when I asked Grandma Henry how she liked the show, she said, "Well it was kind of dumb." And then animatedly explained further, "My butt is paralyzed!"


There were a bunch of games for the kids. Rachel was one of the best hula-hoopers in the county!


And there were even games for adults. Everyone was trying to get me to go out there and make a fool of myself but I was really glad I didn't have the guts to do so when later some "volunteers" were subjected to a torture where they had to eat through layers of poisonous whip cream and pudding to get to their gum for the bubble blowing contest. My cousin Paul was a really good sport to get out there and participate in the giant hippity-hop race.


This picture of Paul is particularly good because it not only shows him airborne on an inflatable horsey, but also captured the unyielding enthusiasm of the evening's host.


Besides the races and games exhibition, we enjoyed lots of other fair activities too. I bought a new ball for three bucks called a lady's softball which is sized between a baseball and a regular (man's) softball. It was just perfect for Lynea and I to throw around a few times throughout the week. We ate kettle corn, admired Rachel's painting she entered, looked at photographs, paintings and quilts, and saw a bunch of livestock. Our favorite animal was this rooster with the most beautiful plumage. We decided if we ever have chickens together, we're getting some like these little ones.


On Saturday, my lumber order arrived while we were out fishing with Curt. We had such a nice time. The weather was warm, but not roasting and the water was so pretty and glassy. Curt predicted few bites but we were all pleased to catch more sunfish than you could shake a stick-with-a-string-and-a-hook at. Lynea showed me a handy trick where you cast the hook right into the fish's mouth. It's much more efficient that way. The fish were so beautiful with their bright golden bellies and blue gills, but I forgot my camera. We kept about 20 and threw back maybe 80 or so and had a nice dinner over at Sid's with Paul.


This is my "I'm so happy my lumber is here and now I can build my house," dance.


It has been raining often, sometimes in great quantities. Because I can't mound the dirt against the walls until I build the floor to give the basement lateral strength, water pooled against the building and flooded up through the window. It left a nice layer of silt which I'm hoping won't be too much trouble to clean up.






This expresses my sentiments well, but I had to laugh at the way things go. Floods always get me respecting nature's power.


On Sunday morning, Sid and I milled some more lumber. We cut this beam for me to use on the exposed ledge of my loft. It will be plenty strong to bear the joists of my top floor and will have a nice, natural, round, exposed face. I'm really excited to incorporate this beam I got to mill from a local red pine.