First of all, Lynea is here, yay! She arrived on Sunday and we spent some quality time together before I was ready to share her with everyone else. We went swimming, ate some monumentally bad Chinese food (uncooked chow mein noodles?!?), and wandered around Menards home improvement store to do some dreaming out loud.
On my way down to get Lynea in St. Paul, I ordered $4,000 of materials from Menards to be delivered to my cabin. That should be enough to build the shell from floor joists to roof shingles. I need a couple doors yet, but I'm on the hunt for some cheap ones.
A day or so before Lynea arrived, I went to Home Depot in Bemidji to get some green treated 2x6 boards for the sill on top of my basement. I thought maybe I could get one more step done before her arrival. I was pained to spend $75 for 8 pieces of lumber, but this was not a place to scrimp. As I checked out, the cashier handed me my receipt and must have noticed the funny look on my face when I saw the bill of just $50. He said, "I gave you $25 dollars off," and to my quizzical look, "because, well, because I can. I thought I'd make shopping easier for you today."
My reply was, "Uh, should I go get some more stuff?" He kind of laughed and said, "Sure, if you want to. I'm only working here till Friday." I said, "Wow, thanks," stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Jon." He said, "Oh, you're welcome, I'm Steven."
I took my cheap lumber to my truck, thinking all the while about what had just happened. I worked up a little nerve, went back into the store, looked to be sure there wasn't a supervisor around to ruin everything, and walked back to Steven's register. I asked him, "Were you serious about giving me another discount, because I need a bunch of stuff?" He said, "Well, what are you building?" and I replied, "A house." I told him I really needed to get started on my walls in the basement which would be about 35 2x6s. I asked how much he could give me off that purchase. He said, "Well I can't give 'em away free, but I could take up to $50 dollars off."
I loaded up what I thought would fit in my truck bed and headed back to the register. My tab of $110 came out to $60, just like he said. Wow. I took the lumber to my lot and stacked it neatly next to my basement. I spent a couple hours trying to get the sill plate on and it was pretty difficult. I want it to be really square and accurate so I can match the upper parts of the house to it as I go. I didn't get very far with it, but I have a pretty good idea of what to do next.
Today Lynea and I are relaxing at the Burns's place in Becida, listening to the rumble of thunder as heavy rain patters down on the roof of the DNA lab. My nice new boards are getting soaked, but I hope they dry as quickly as they get wet. I had a tarp on them yesterday, but took it off so the condensation on the inside could dry out. Oopsie!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Basement Complete
On Friday, Isaac and Lige came up to Becida and we finished building the basement. We put a layer of poly sheeting down on the sand as a barrier against radon and when the concrete truck finally arrived, we poured the floor. We put on rubber boots and used long-handled tools to pull the concrete all around. Lige and Isaac leveled it off using a screed board and I helped move concrete around as needed. Then Lige left to a different job and the real work began for Isaac. I had no idea the finishing of the slab would take so much time and labor. Isaac spent hours smoothing the floor. First he got down on his knees and meticulously hand-troweled the entire edge. Then we let the concrete set up a bit before lowering the motorized troweling machine into the basement. That sucker was heavy! Isaac took the heavy end as we put it in the building, and then later as we took it out, but I took the heavy end when we walked it up the ramp into the trailer at the end of the day. I bent my knees, kept my back straight and lifted with my legs and holy moly, my quads never felt strain like that before!
Isaac made at least a couple passes around the whole building with the machine, and did some more hand-troweling as well. Though we started in the morning, we didn't leave the work site before 5 PM. I've never seen such a smooth concrete floor!
Isaac troweling by hand
Nearly finished floor
Joel and Dustin came by for a visit with their family. Kadie was so excited to see that I have pink walls! We discussed leaving the insulation exposed for aesthetic purposes, but in the end I think I'll paint it some other color.
There have been various reports of tornadoes and funnel clouds since I've been here. According to the information I've gathered, a good strong basement is the safest place to be, should a tornado be imminent. Soon after my basement was finished, I saw this cloud protruding below a towering cumulus as I drove between Backus and Becida.
One characteristic of a developing tornado is clouds moving toward the ground. Another is cyclonic rotation of cloud mass. This looked to me like a funnel cloud, not that I've ever seen one before, but it didn't have any apparent rotation to it, so I didn't totally freak out. Any tornado experts out there have an opinion about this cloud? Leave a comment...
Isaac made at least a couple passes around the whole building with the machine, and did some more hand-troweling as well. Though we started in the morning, we didn't leave the work site before 5 PM. I've never seen such a smooth concrete floor!
Isaac troweling by hand
Nearly finished floor
Joel and Dustin came by for a visit with their family. Kadie was so excited to see that I have pink walls! We discussed leaving the insulation exposed for aesthetic purposes, but in the end I think I'll paint it some other color.
There have been various reports of tornadoes and funnel clouds since I've been here. According to the information I've gathered, a good strong basement is the safest place to be, should a tornado be imminent. Soon after my basement was finished, I saw this cloud protruding below a towering cumulus as I drove between Backus and Becida.
One characteristic of a developing tornado is clouds moving toward the ground. Another is cyclonic rotation of cloud mass. This looked to me like a funnel cloud, not that I've ever seen one before, but it didn't have any apparent rotation to it, so I didn't totally freak out. Any tornado experts out there have an opinion about this cloud? Leave a comment...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Basement Almost Done!
Though things are going really well overall, I've finally hit my first small snags. None of them will probably amount to a delay anyway and I'm surprised it's taken so long to come up. I was supposed to have electricity by today so I called to find out what the problem was and they said, "We don't have you scheduled for anything...." so I complained as nicely as I could muster and they promise it will be done in one week. Since Lynea is visiting for a week starting Sunday, I don't think I'd need it till then anyway. Then I tried to order floor joists from Home Depot and they said they'd call me back with an estimate which didn't happen. I checked in today and it sounds like I can get that straightened out in the morning. The only other thing is the people who were supposed to assign my address and install a sign post were late, but when I called to gripe they were out the next day. I should have an address in a couple weeks, they say.
For any bad luck that has arisen, my good luck has been 100-fold! Firstly, the Burns Brothers have been working many hours to get my basement in. With just a little luck and cooperation from the weather, we'll have it all done tomorrow. So much was done today, but it rained really hard in the evening so they decided to wait till tomorrow to pour the concrete slab for the basement floor.
Today Isaac and Lige finished the basement walls and Nathan used an industrial sprayer to apply an oil-based sealer to the walls to inhibit moisture from entering the building. I had a dump-truck load of sand delivered and we spread that all over the floor and packed it down to prepare for concrete. We dug a pit and installed a sump below the level of the floor surface and plumbed in a floor drain and a drain for a washing machine too. The sump has a pump in it that will lift the water from the basement out to the septic tank (if I can ever afford to install a septic system...).
I dug a hole under the concrete footing and we installed a four inch pipe that will later house the water line coming from the well to my utility room. We also installed a pipe called a drain tile around the bottom of the entire basement and it's supposed to catch any water that may drain down so it doesn't get under or into the basement. The drain tile is also plumbed under the footing into the sump so any water collected can be lifted out.
While Lige and I leveled the sand on the floor, Isaac glued insulation to the exterior of the basement walls. Nathan used their Bobcat to push dirt back into the ditch as Isaac progressed. Back-filling will not only hold the insulation panels in place, but will give me a place to stand while I install the floor joists.
Lige and Isaac finishing my wall this morning
Lige using a chisel to cut a block in half so it can be used in the window jamb.
Nathan painting on the sealant. Notice the top two courses don't have any sealant on them as those ones will be above ground away from the moisture in the soil.
Nathan back-filling after the insulation is in place.
Isaac applying the last of the insulation panels.
Here is what the floor looks like this evening. The gray circle is the top of the sump. It goes about two feet into the ground. The big pipe on the right is where the water line will come in and the smaller pipe in the middle is the drain for the washing machine. The small gray dot on the right is the floor drain (in case I ever have a plumbing problem like Paul did!). Where the two ditches are I am going to build walls in the basement which will help carry the floor joists. Also, my stairs will come down between them. As you can see, the furthest wall spans nearly the entire room. That smaller section in back will be a utility room, seven by eighteen feet and the stairs will come down in there. The room will house my water pressure tank, hot water heater, washer and dryer. The sump will end up under the stairs. I should see if I can upload my floor plan drawings soon!
The previous couple days were fun too, but not quite the dramatic progression of today.
Joe, Ivy, and Lily came to Becida and I took them out to see Lake Osawa which is partially owned by my cousins. They have a lot of land at the lake's edge. Right after we went there, Joe and company headed west. At last check-in, Joe was in Yellowstone and had just seen my old fire crew, Lewis and Clark Hotshots, drive by. Small world; they are based in Montana!
This was my last chance to relax with Lily. Actually, maybe ever, since she kind of knows how to talk now.
Was it only yesterday??? Man, it seems like forever ago, my new friend Bryan gave me some logs, just like he said he would. I hitched Paul's trailer to my truck and headed over right after Bryan called. He had just felled a bunch of pine trees and was getting good money for them by the truckload. But just to help me out, he gave me three pine logs 18 feet long apiece. Paul's trailer looked overloaded and I've never seen my pick-up squat so low. It was probably a couple thousand pound load; the trees were fresh, green, wet, and heavy! They are probably more than 18 inches at the bases and Bryan says that is plenty big to bear the load of my loft, so I hope to mill them down into large timbers to use throughout the house. I'm most excited to have one exposed on the face of my loft floor!
Although I needed some things in Bemidji, I headed right to Sid's house where the sawmill is. Constable Bob said he'll help me get them cut up in the next couple days. On the drive over towing the logs, I had to be really careful with acceleration, braking, cornering, and my speed in general. The trailer-full of logs had so much inertia that if it began to sway a bit, it wanted to keep right on snaking down the road with increasing distance left to right. I made my way along like a pokey little puppy and arrived at Sid's without incident. I can't wait to get these things cut up and installed in my cabin!!
For any bad luck that has arisen, my good luck has been 100-fold! Firstly, the Burns Brothers have been working many hours to get my basement in. With just a little luck and cooperation from the weather, we'll have it all done tomorrow. So much was done today, but it rained really hard in the evening so they decided to wait till tomorrow to pour the concrete slab for the basement floor.
Today Isaac and Lige finished the basement walls and Nathan used an industrial sprayer to apply an oil-based sealer to the walls to inhibit moisture from entering the building. I had a dump-truck load of sand delivered and we spread that all over the floor and packed it down to prepare for concrete. We dug a pit and installed a sump below the level of the floor surface and plumbed in a floor drain and a drain for a washing machine too. The sump has a pump in it that will lift the water from the basement out to the septic tank (if I can ever afford to install a septic system...).
I dug a hole under the concrete footing and we installed a four inch pipe that will later house the water line coming from the well to my utility room. We also installed a pipe called a drain tile around the bottom of the entire basement and it's supposed to catch any water that may drain down so it doesn't get under or into the basement. The drain tile is also plumbed under the footing into the sump so any water collected can be lifted out.
While Lige and I leveled the sand on the floor, Isaac glued insulation to the exterior of the basement walls. Nathan used their Bobcat to push dirt back into the ditch as Isaac progressed. Back-filling will not only hold the insulation panels in place, but will give me a place to stand while I install the floor joists.
Lige and Isaac finishing my wall this morning
Lige using a chisel to cut a block in half so it can be used in the window jamb.
Nathan painting on the sealant. Notice the top two courses don't have any sealant on them as those ones will be above ground away from the moisture in the soil.
Nathan back-filling after the insulation is in place.
Isaac applying the last of the insulation panels.
Here is what the floor looks like this evening. The gray circle is the top of the sump. It goes about two feet into the ground. The big pipe on the right is where the water line will come in and the smaller pipe in the middle is the drain for the washing machine. The small gray dot on the right is the floor drain (in case I ever have a plumbing problem like Paul did!). Where the two ditches are I am going to build walls in the basement which will help carry the floor joists. Also, my stairs will come down between them. As you can see, the furthest wall spans nearly the entire room. That smaller section in back will be a utility room, seven by eighteen feet and the stairs will come down in there. The room will house my water pressure tank, hot water heater, washer and dryer. The sump will end up under the stairs. I should see if I can upload my floor plan drawings soon!
The previous couple days were fun too, but not quite the dramatic progression of today.
Joe, Ivy, and Lily came to Becida and I took them out to see Lake Osawa which is partially owned by my cousins. They have a lot of land at the lake's edge. Right after we went there, Joe and company headed west. At last check-in, Joe was in Yellowstone and had just seen my old fire crew, Lewis and Clark Hotshots, drive by. Small world; they are based in Montana!
This was my last chance to relax with Lily. Actually, maybe ever, since she kind of knows how to talk now.
Was it only yesterday??? Man, it seems like forever ago, my new friend Bryan gave me some logs, just like he said he would. I hitched Paul's trailer to my truck and headed over right after Bryan called. He had just felled a bunch of pine trees and was getting good money for them by the truckload. But just to help me out, he gave me three pine logs 18 feet long apiece. Paul's trailer looked overloaded and I've never seen my pick-up squat so low. It was probably a couple thousand pound load; the trees were fresh, green, wet, and heavy! They are probably more than 18 inches at the bases and Bryan says that is plenty big to bear the load of my loft, so I hope to mill them down into large timbers to use throughout the house. I'm most excited to have one exposed on the face of my loft floor!
Although I needed some things in Bemidji, I headed right to Sid's house where the sawmill is. Constable Bob said he'll help me get them cut up in the next couple days. On the drive over towing the logs, I had to be really careful with acceleration, braking, cornering, and my speed in general. The trailer-full of logs had so much inertia that if it began to sway a bit, it wanted to keep right on snaking down the road with increasing distance left to right. I made my way along like a pokey little puppy and arrived at Sid's without incident. I can't wait to get these things cut up and installed in my cabin!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Basement and Bees
I'm on my sixty-seventh great day in a row. I haven't really been counting, but it feels like a lot! Today Nathan, Lige and I worked on my basement walls some more. We nearly finished them but ran a few blocks short. I'll get the remainder in a day or two and then those will go in the same day we pour the concrete basement floor, probably. Today felt like a huge success and progress was so visible. It's a lot more gratifying than waiting three weeks to have my address post installed.
This is the west-facing wall completely done. The rectangular space is where my egress window will be located. Egress window always makes me think of egret window. Prepare for impending biology joke. During the summer and spring, I'll have a Great Egress window, but in late fall and winter, it will be a Snowy Egress window.
The south-facing wall is the only one incomplete. Up on the left there where a half-block kind of stands alone, there will be a window in the small space to the left. There will be three of those windows installed in this wall at the same height within the top two courses of blocks (a "course" is one layer of blocks running on the same horizontal plane). One will be in the very center of the wall with the third being symmetrically placed to the one on the left, but on the right side of the wall.
Here Nathan is laying the top course of blocks on the south wall. If you look closely, you will see the top two courses are textured differently than all the blocks below. The top ones are called "rock face" blocks and look more natural or pretty than the smooth cement-looking regular blocks. This is just for aesthetic purposes. Only the top two courses are rock-face blocks, because those are the only ones that will show above ground. So if you refer to the previous picture, you can imagine the base of my windows on the south wall will be at the surface level of the ground around the house so all but the top sixteen inches of my basement will be below grade (under ground). We will take some of the dirt that was excavated from the basement and mound it up below the top two courses of blocks. It will look a bit like my house is sitting on a little hill, though it will in fact be several feet below the surface!
Here you can kind of see the whole scene, including scaffolding used for laying the top courses. The cabin is located near the north end of the lot, so this picture looks south to where most of my land is. The pond is among those trees out there and this is the view I will face if I look out the imagined windows on the front of the house.
Melanie had a delicious dinner awaiting me when we were done working for the day. I ate and hung out with the kids a little before Paul took me out to see his bee hives! He told me each bee lives only around two weeks and produces about a teaspoon of honey in a lifetime. Wow, so many life-works have gone into my morning smoothies and into my belly! He also told me about the amazing communication systems bees use with one another. Apparently, a bee can report to a group where a food source is located, how much food is there, and what the quality of it is as well! I can hardly imagine.
Out we ventured into the dark night, dressed up in these outfits which seemed a bit overly cautious until angry bees were trying to sting my head. It was a fascinating experience; I could hear the scream of the bee's wings in attack mode and could feel it ramming into my net hood, but it was unable to get to my skin. Added bonus: I was impervious to mosquitoes as well! Bonus bonus: we looked so silly it made us smile!
This is the west-facing wall completely done. The rectangular space is where my egress window will be located. Egress window always makes me think of egret window. Prepare for impending biology joke. During the summer and spring, I'll have a Great Egress window, but in late fall and winter, it will be a Snowy Egress window.
The south-facing wall is the only one incomplete. Up on the left there where a half-block kind of stands alone, there will be a window in the small space to the left. There will be three of those windows installed in this wall at the same height within the top two courses of blocks (a "course" is one layer of blocks running on the same horizontal plane). One will be in the very center of the wall with the third being symmetrically placed to the one on the left, but on the right side of the wall.
Here Nathan is laying the top course of blocks on the south wall. If you look closely, you will see the top two courses are textured differently than all the blocks below. The top ones are called "rock face" blocks and look more natural or pretty than the smooth cement-looking regular blocks. This is just for aesthetic purposes. Only the top two courses are rock-face blocks, because those are the only ones that will show above ground. So if you refer to the previous picture, you can imagine the base of my windows on the south wall will be at the surface level of the ground around the house so all but the top sixteen inches of my basement will be below grade (under ground). We will take some of the dirt that was excavated from the basement and mound it up below the top two courses of blocks. It will look a bit like my house is sitting on a little hill, though it will in fact be several feet below the surface!
Here you can kind of see the whole scene, including scaffolding used for laying the top courses. The cabin is located near the north end of the lot, so this picture looks south to where most of my land is. The pond is among those trees out there and this is the view I will face if I look out the imagined windows on the front of the house.
Melanie had a delicious dinner awaiting me when we were done working for the day. I ate and hung out with the kids a little before Paul took me out to see his bee hives! He told me each bee lives only around two weeks and produces about a teaspoon of honey in a lifetime. Wow, so many life-works have gone into my morning smoothies and into my belly! He also told me about the amazing communication systems bees use with one another. Apparently, a bee can report to a group where a food source is located, how much food is there, and what the quality of it is as well! I can hardly imagine.
Out we ventured into the dark night, dressed up in these outfits which seemed a bit overly cautious until angry bees were trying to sting my head. It was a fascinating experience; I could hear the scream of the bee's wings in attack mode and could feel it ramming into my net hood, but it was unable to get to my skin. Added bonus: I was impervious to mosquitoes as well! Bonus bonus: we looked so silly it made us smile!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Family Fun
Ah Sunday, the day to rest! In the morning many of the Burns clan went to church in Backus to hear an interesting sermon that analogized straying spiritually with being physically dehydrated. You ache, get disoriented, and the most ironic symptom is that the condition prevents you from being able to see the simple cure. Your thirst can lead to confusion that might blind you from realizing you simply need to drink some water. We read from the book of John, chapter four, where Jesus tells a Samaratin woman who has been married five times of water she can drink and never thirst again. It reminded me very much of a verse from my favorite Emmylou Harris song, All My Tears:
Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven's store
Come and drink and thirst no more
For me, the highlight of the service came before the sermon as we sang a contemporary take on my all-time favorite church song, Amazing Grace. They added in a different chorus line and I liked it surprisingly well, as I would have thought this song needed no improvement. Here is a link to the version we sang (you'll probably need to cut and paste the address to your browser):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8KRyA5sAac
or an alternate version, this one by a male vocalist, the previous by a female.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbe7OruLk8I&feature=related
After church, we celebrated my cousin Malachi's 5th birthday. Almost everyone was there, including Aunt Lee, Uncle Ronnie, and I think all of their descendants. Grandma Henry had 19 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in attendance plus 4 of her grandkids' wives, me, Joe, his daughters, and Walter too. We had a lot of fun eating, visiting, playing games, and some of us even did some dancing toward the end!
Birthday boy gettin' some presents!
Cousin Kadie has impressive hula hoop skills. I find this runs in the family!
Cousin Rachel working on a routine
Cousin Arianna getting a lesson from Dad. I also have action (blackmail) shots of Nathan hula hooping, but I'm holding them ransom at this time.
Niece Ivy visiting from Arizona. When I asked her what she wanted to do in Minnesota, she answered, "Go back to Arizona." I think a few days later she is enjoying herself in spite of herself :-) Also, one of the kids told me as we watched a video this evening I look like Miley Cyrus's dad and added that he was cute. Ivy agreed, so I was like, "Aww, thanks!" Then Ivy blurted, "NOOOO, him, not you-oo!" Darn kids these days ;-)
Cousin Sarah doing cool tricks
Cousin Joel getting into the spirit
And now, a brief photo series on my brother Joe. Here is Joe being "sociable". Actually, it was pretty cool to see him at a party without a book...
I can't decide what caption to put on this photo. Consider what objects may be clenched in his fists.
Oh my gosh! A monumental event: Joe played an entire game of forty-two, and even played well.
Most of the Backus Burns Bunch
You gotta dig Sarah's fancy new boots!
Autumn, Missy, Steph, Kaitlyn, Walter, Uncle Ronnie, Ethan, Isaac, Joe!
Five Burnses from three generations
Tomorrow morning I'll rise early and ride up with Nathan to get my basement walls done. How exciting, I can't wait!
Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven's store
Come and drink and thirst no more
For me, the highlight of the service came before the sermon as we sang a contemporary take on my all-time favorite church song, Amazing Grace. They added in a different chorus line and I liked it surprisingly well, as I would have thought this song needed no improvement. Here is a link to the version we sang (you'll probably need to cut and paste the address to your browser):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8KRyA5sAac
or an alternate version, this one by a male vocalist, the previous by a female.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbe7OruLk8I&feature=related
After church, we celebrated my cousin Malachi's 5th birthday. Almost everyone was there, including Aunt Lee, Uncle Ronnie, and I think all of their descendants. Grandma Henry had 19 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in attendance plus 4 of her grandkids' wives, me, Joe, his daughters, and Walter too. We had a lot of fun eating, visiting, playing games, and some of us even did some dancing toward the end!
Birthday boy gettin' some presents!
Cousin Kadie has impressive hula hoop skills. I find this runs in the family!
Cousin Rachel working on a routine
Cousin Arianna getting a lesson from Dad. I also have action (blackmail) shots of Nathan hula hooping, but I'm holding them ransom at this time.
Niece Ivy visiting from Arizona. When I asked her what she wanted to do in Minnesota, she answered, "Go back to Arizona." I think a few days later she is enjoying herself in spite of herself :-) Also, one of the kids told me as we watched a video this evening I look like Miley Cyrus's dad and added that he was cute. Ivy agreed, so I was like, "Aww, thanks!" Then Ivy blurted, "NOOOO, him, not you-oo!" Darn kids these days ;-)
Cousin Sarah doing cool tricks
Cousin Joel getting into the spirit
And now, a brief photo series on my brother Joe. Here is Joe being "sociable". Actually, it was pretty cool to see him at a party without a book...
I can't decide what caption to put on this photo. Consider what objects may be clenched in his fists.
Oh my gosh! A monumental event: Joe played an entire game of forty-two, and even played well.
Most of the Backus Burns Bunch
You gotta dig Sarah's fancy new boots!
Autumn, Missy, Steph, Kaitlyn, Walter, Uncle Ronnie, Ethan, Isaac, Joe!
Five Burnses from three generations
Tomorrow morning I'll rise early and ride up with Nathan to get my basement walls done. How exciting, I can't wait!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Basement Construction Day 1
On Friday, Nathan and Lige made it up to my lot to begin construction on the walls of my basement. Though it has been stormy from time to time, the weather was cooperative for construction. The sun shone hotly, but a nice wind picked up by afternoon. I felt really great early in the day and was surprised to find my self having thoughts like, "Maybe I could be a mason, I just needed to condition my body a bit, like I used to at the beginning of each fire season." I was less surprised about five minutes later when I thought, "Ppppft, yeah right! Are you nuts, Jon Wheeler!? I'm hungry, when's lunch?"
I quickly settled back into my role as mason's helper delivering buckets of cement and smoothing mortar joints. I joked around that I was confused about whether I was a boss or a drudge today and endured (perhaps relished) all their jokes about homeowners never knowing anything and about the work they were doing being "good enough for who it's for" etc. I told them to go ahead and make all the jokes they wanted because there was very little chance of them losing this client. Lige laughed and said he'd never gotten to insult the homeowner to their face before. We had fun going back and forth like that all day. I had one conversation that went like this:
Me: Does this joint look smooth enough?
Lige: Ungh
Me: OK
Lige: Why use all them words when a simple grunt will do? I guess I'm not feeling very conversational today.
Me: OK... You wanna talk about it?
Things were going well, and I felt really proud when they decided it was time to teach me to mix cement. It was like a pretty serious promotion. I learned the secret recipe, listened very carefully to Nathan's instructions, and repeated them back to him to make sure I understood. OK, water, cement, sand. Got it. I totally had things under control until Lige walked over to check on me, looked down into the mixer and shouted, "ADD WATER!" about four seconds before the motor bogged and the drive belt broke on the mixer. Nathan laughed and told me it was time to mix by hand. I looked sidelong for an escape route to the woods, but fortunately they had an extra belt. Unfortunately, they had only one belt and my new cement mixing privileges were rescinded at once. It's probably healthy for my ego that I'm so unskilled at something that I should be demoted.
Lige mixed for the rest of the day and no more belts broke. The guys made excellent progress getting the walls halfway done in a day. Nathan says they'll return on Monday and I expect the walls will get completed then. I'm thinking one more day after that and the slab will get poured, finishing my basement! Then I'll be ready to do construction all day every day to my heart's desire and my body's dismay. My plan is to never lift anything heavier than half a bucket of cement. Ever.
This is the first half of my basement:
This picture shows the space where my egress window will go. A window installed here big enough for people to exit the basement in case of emergency allows me to use the basement for a bedroom in the future if I wish. It will go where the blocks are missing in an inverted pyramid in the center of the wall.
"House" with "yard"
By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty tired.
In a town the size of Becida, new construction is relatively big news, especially if it's near where them people was buried. I heard a couple honks from passing cars which I took to mean, hey, we're excited for you! A few visitors including my brother Joe stopped by to see the progress. It was near the end of the day and I was so tired I forgot to get a picture of Joe and his kids. But here's proof positive his RV was on site
I quickly settled back into my role as mason's helper delivering buckets of cement and smoothing mortar joints. I joked around that I was confused about whether I was a boss or a drudge today and endured (perhaps relished) all their jokes about homeowners never knowing anything and about the work they were doing being "good enough for who it's for" etc. I told them to go ahead and make all the jokes they wanted because there was very little chance of them losing this client. Lige laughed and said he'd never gotten to insult the homeowner to their face before. We had fun going back and forth like that all day. I had one conversation that went like this:
Me: Does this joint look smooth enough?
Lige: Ungh
Me: OK
Lige: Why use all them words when a simple grunt will do? I guess I'm not feeling very conversational today.
Me: OK... You wanna talk about it?
Things were going well, and I felt really proud when they decided it was time to teach me to mix cement. It was like a pretty serious promotion. I learned the secret recipe, listened very carefully to Nathan's instructions, and repeated them back to him to make sure I understood. OK, water, cement, sand. Got it. I totally had things under control until Lige walked over to check on me, looked down into the mixer and shouted, "ADD WATER!" about four seconds before the motor bogged and the drive belt broke on the mixer. Nathan laughed and told me it was time to mix by hand. I looked sidelong for an escape route to the woods, but fortunately they had an extra belt. Unfortunately, they had only one belt and my new cement mixing privileges were rescinded at once. It's probably healthy for my ego that I'm so unskilled at something that I should be demoted.
Lige mixed for the rest of the day and no more belts broke. The guys made excellent progress getting the walls halfway done in a day. Nathan says they'll return on Monday and I expect the walls will get completed then. I'm thinking one more day after that and the slab will get poured, finishing my basement! Then I'll be ready to do construction all day every day to my heart's desire and my body's dismay. My plan is to never lift anything heavier than half a bucket of cement. Ever.
This is the first half of my basement:
This picture shows the space where my egress window will go. A window installed here big enough for people to exit the basement in case of emergency allows me to use the basement for a bedroom in the future if I wish. It will go where the blocks are missing in an inverted pyramid in the center of the wall.
"House" with "yard"
By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty tired.
In a town the size of Becida, new construction is relatively big news, especially if it's near where them people was buried. I heard a couple honks from passing cars which I took to mean, hey, we're excited for you! A few visitors including my brother Joe stopped by to see the progress. It was near the end of the day and I was so tired I forgot to get a picture of Joe and his kids. But here's proof positive his RV was on site
Stocking Supplies Amid Backwoods Adventure
The past few days, I've spent lots of money and made terrific progress. Thursday I drove all over the place hunting bargains and making deals. I went two hours to the southeast to get some windows. Dave was the guy selling them and we had negotiated a price by email without ever having a phone conversation. His pictures in the Craigslist ad were really bad and he didn't provide very much information. I talked him down from his asking price of $875 based on a worst-case scenario; if they were cheap-o windows, how much would I feel OK paying? Answer:$600 I emailed my offer of $500 and his reply came, "Holy buckets! How about $600?" I love that expression and I've only ever heard Minnesotans say 'holy buckets'. We settled on the price and I made the long trek. Dave was happy to get the cash, was a really nice guy, and like everyone else I meet here, we had a nice visit. It turned out to be a better deal than I could have dreamed because it was not at all a worst-case scenario. They were seven really expensive quality windows in brand new condition. One of the items is an egress window for which I was planning to pay $250. I'm so pleased about that. It appears Dave was telling the truth when he claimed these windows for which I paid $600 are valued at $1800!
From Dave's house, I headed 3 hours back to the northwest to Becida. I dropped off the windows and Sid's trailer I had borrowed to move them, hitched up a larger trailer I borrowed from Paul, and headed an hour south to meet the guy who agreed to sell me kitchen cabinets. I won the bidding war at $700 and still think that was a good deal for four nice cabinets, kitchen sink & faucet included. It should be plenty to outfit my kitchen. Now I just have to plan the floor layout to fit them all...
Besides the beautiful kitchen items, I bought from the same guy a bathroom vanity as well. It's a little cabinet with the sink and faucet all together. He originally wanted $80 for it, but I talked him down to $40 since he'd gotten so much of my money all together. He's the same guy from whom I bought those baseboard heaters pictured in a previous post. I think in the end we were both happy.
I made it back to Becida by dark and even got to chat with Lynea for a while before bed. What a fun, long day! I hope those widows and cabinets get installed in the semi-near future ;-)
Today, I went shopping again. I'm going to stop doing that soon, I swear. I just "needed" a few little things. Like flowery antique dishes, service for eight... I checked in with my kitchen purchases advisory committee (Phoebe, Christina, and Lynea) and the vote was unanimous: buy the dish set.
This morning after a backwoods adventure with Constable Bob and Sid, I returned to the shop where my dish set was awaiting. First, a brief report on the morning's activities: Bob said, "Let's go take a look at that oak tree." I got the impression he had a tree down somewhere he was giving to Sid for his cabin. We hopped in Bob's truck and had traveled a few miles down the road before I realized I had no clue where or how far we were headed. As we drove, the Constable pointed out which places he had killed a deer (it turned out to be all of the places, he's hunted everywhere). Eventually Bob turned down a two-track dirt road heading into dense woods, and I finally asked, "So who are we getting this oak from?" Sid answered laughing, "Don't ask questions, just move fast when we get out of the truck." Bob kept joking around about us getting caught (by whom, I still don't know) and couldn't make up his mind who to ditch/sacrifice if needed: the skinny guy (me) or the crippled guy (Sid). On the way in, we saw a coyote or a wolf (not sure which) and told stories and had a generally fun adventure. We left with a truck full of firewood and smiles on our faces. Back at his cabin, I helped Sid with a bit of felling and limbing before I returned to the world of commercial consumerism.
I wondered if Dave, the guy in the antique shop, would remember me with all the different customers coming through all the time. Business must be slow, because when I walked in, instead of saying hello or anything, he said, "I found your sugar bowl, but the creamer hasn't turned up." I asked if the $80 price still stood and he confirmed. I looked at each dish and the condition really was spectacular. He brought out some newspaper and a box and we wrapped it all to go. I knew he was my kind of guy when he said, because my hands were full, I could just carry them right out to my car and pay him when I came back in so I wouldn't have to set down and pick up the box. Back in the shop, I took one last look around to make sure he wasn't selling anything I couldn't live without. I found cabinet hinges to replace the ugly ones on my new bathroom vanity for 50 cents and a cast iron griddle skillet I've been seeking with a low rim for crepes.
While I was poking around, another customer came in and said something like, "Hey, remember me, I'm the guy with all the nuns who was looking for a dresser a while back? Did you get one?" Of course Dave the shop owner remembered him too, and indeed he had acquired what the guy wanted but it was down in his basement. He sent the customer out to the shop owner's car to get his garage door opener so he could take a look below. He liked what he saw, but didn't have the cash on hand to pay for it. Dave said, "Well just load it up, you'll pay me next time you come through." The customer protested, but Dave insisted, "I've done business that away my whole life. People could rip me off, but I know you won't. If a guy ain't good for his word, he ain't worth a crap anyway."
The customer thanked him profusely and asked for a hand lifting the furniture into his car. Last time I was at the shop, the owner told me about getting a toe amputated due to diabetic complications, so I offered to give a hand with the dresser. The customer introduced himself as Sal. While we loaded up, he asked me if I liked to read, and then gave me a copy of his autobiography with this warning: "I've lived a really interesting life, but it's kind of a crazy story. Just be prepared for an intense ride." Then he told me he owns a retreat for nuns on Lake George which is about 15 or 20 miles from Becida where my cabin is. He thanked me for my help and invited me to visit his retreat next time I'm in Lake George. The instructions were to stop anywhere in town and ask where the place with the nuns is and they'll know what I'm talking about. Here is his website http://blog.salsbook.net/?p=103 and here is a link to his book http://www.salsbook.net/ I look forward to reading his story!
From Dave's house, I headed 3 hours back to the northwest to Becida. I dropped off the windows and Sid's trailer I had borrowed to move them, hitched up a larger trailer I borrowed from Paul, and headed an hour south to meet the guy who agreed to sell me kitchen cabinets. I won the bidding war at $700 and still think that was a good deal for four nice cabinets, kitchen sink & faucet included. It should be plenty to outfit my kitchen. Now I just have to plan the floor layout to fit them all...
Besides the beautiful kitchen items, I bought from the same guy a bathroom vanity as well. It's a little cabinet with the sink and faucet all together. He originally wanted $80 for it, but I talked him down to $40 since he'd gotten so much of my money all together. He's the same guy from whom I bought those baseboard heaters pictured in a previous post. I think in the end we were both happy.
I made it back to Becida by dark and even got to chat with Lynea for a while before bed. What a fun, long day! I hope those widows and cabinets get installed in the semi-near future ;-)
Today, I went shopping again. I'm going to stop doing that soon, I swear. I just "needed" a few little things. Like flowery antique dishes, service for eight... I checked in with my kitchen purchases advisory committee (Phoebe, Christina, and Lynea) and the vote was unanimous: buy the dish set.
This morning after a backwoods adventure with Constable Bob and Sid, I returned to the shop where my dish set was awaiting. First, a brief report on the morning's activities: Bob said, "Let's go take a look at that oak tree." I got the impression he had a tree down somewhere he was giving to Sid for his cabin. We hopped in Bob's truck and had traveled a few miles down the road before I realized I had no clue where or how far we were headed. As we drove, the Constable pointed out which places he had killed a deer (it turned out to be all of the places, he's hunted everywhere). Eventually Bob turned down a two-track dirt road heading into dense woods, and I finally asked, "So who are we getting this oak from?" Sid answered laughing, "Don't ask questions, just move fast when we get out of the truck." Bob kept joking around about us getting caught (by whom, I still don't know) and couldn't make up his mind who to ditch/sacrifice if needed: the skinny guy (me) or the crippled guy (Sid). On the way in, we saw a coyote or a wolf (not sure which) and told stories and had a generally fun adventure. We left with a truck full of firewood and smiles on our faces. Back at his cabin, I helped Sid with a bit of felling and limbing before I returned to the world of commercial consumerism.
I wondered if Dave, the guy in the antique shop, would remember me with all the different customers coming through all the time. Business must be slow, because when I walked in, instead of saying hello or anything, he said, "I found your sugar bowl, but the creamer hasn't turned up." I asked if the $80 price still stood and he confirmed. I looked at each dish and the condition really was spectacular. He brought out some newspaper and a box and we wrapped it all to go. I knew he was my kind of guy when he said, because my hands were full, I could just carry them right out to my car and pay him when I came back in so I wouldn't have to set down and pick up the box. Back in the shop, I took one last look around to make sure he wasn't selling anything I couldn't live without. I found cabinet hinges to replace the ugly ones on my new bathroom vanity for 50 cents and a cast iron griddle skillet I've been seeking with a low rim for crepes.
While I was poking around, another customer came in and said something like, "Hey, remember me, I'm the guy with all the nuns who was looking for a dresser a while back? Did you get one?" Of course Dave the shop owner remembered him too, and indeed he had acquired what the guy wanted but it was down in his basement. He sent the customer out to the shop owner's car to get his garage door opener so he could take a look below. He liked what he saw, but didn't have the cash on hand to pay for it. Dave said, "Well just load it up, you'll pay me next time you come through." The customer protested, but Dave insisted, "I've done business that away my whole life. People could rip me off, but I know you won't. If a guy ain't good for his word, he ain't worth a crap anyway."
The customer thanked him profusely and asked for a hand lifting the furniture into his car. Last time I was at the shop, the owner told me about getting a toe amputated due to diabetic complications, so I offered to give a hand with the dresser. The customer introduced himself as Sal. While we loaded up, he asked me if I liked to read, and then gave me a copy of his autobiography with this warning: "I've lived a really interesting life, but it's kind of a crazy story. Just be prepared for an intense ride." Then he told me he owns a retreat for nuns on Lake George which is about 15 or 20 miles from Becida where my cabin is. He thanked me for my help and invited me to visit his retreat next time I'm in Lake George. The instructions were to stop anywhere in town and ask where the place with the nuns is and they'll know what I'm talking about. Here is his website http://blog.salsbook.net/?p=103 and here is a link to his book http://www.salsbook.net/ I look forward to reading his story!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Buying More Stuff
It turns out building a house can be a bargain hunter's fantasy come true! I am loving this. Oh the things I scored today... The biggest purchase I've made so far was the blocks and cement which arrived yesterday for the masonry walls of my basement. Nathan says we will begin construction of my basement walls on Friday, the day after tomorrow.
The boom operator/truck driver had a remote control for moving the crane-like fork lift dealimabob.
The blocks took under an hour to off-load, and then I spent a couple more hours moving blocks into position to facilitate construction.
After my work was all done, Dustin and Joel had me over for another lovely dinner and Paul got to join us too, as he was working in the lab in the evening. I cut out after dinner to go look at some kitchen cabinetry I'm interested in buying. It was a really beautiful set so I offered the seller his asking price of $550 cash which he declined. He thought someone would offer him more today, which was true. He called me this evening to let me know he was offered $600, so I told him I'd go $700. We settled on that and I've got an appointment tomorrow evening to go pick them up. This is one of four pieces included in the purchase. I really hope the price doesn't go up anymore before I get there!
Before I left yesterday, I bought from the same guy these two baseboard heaters for $20 for the pair, about half their retail cost.
Today's shopping began with this Craigslist find. It's a really nice window supposedly valued around $350 I picked up in Brainerd in unused condition for $100.
After I got the window, I got my long-overdue oil changed in Brainerd. While that work was being done, I was treated to this lovely display of my favorite cloud type, cumulus mammatus. As I left the house this morning, I was rain-drenched in the few seconds it took me to get from the garage to my car. Lightning was flashing multiple times per minute and I counted the thunder delay at two seconds. It was incredible and intense. When my oil change was done, the manager of the shop mentioned he'd noticed me taking pictures of the sky. I told him how I love this cloud type and that it's an indication of a dissipating thunder cell.
Then he mentioned casually that at 8:30, about five minutes before I rolled into town, the tornado warning siren went off and a funnel cloud sighting was reported just over Mills Ford, the car dealership pictured above. He looked out briefly before taking shelter in the pit where they change oil and said it was so dark and stormy, he was unable to see across the street to see any tornadoes first hand. I pieced together his story with my schedule and figure I was within 4-5 miles of the alleged funnel cloud. When I first got here, I was baffled that people wouldn't just take cover or drive the other direction when they see a tornado. I'm beginning to understand it's too stormy to see them as they form. Yikes.
The clouds parted, the sun came out, and I proceeded to seek out the world's loneliest antique shop owners who would hold me captive with conversation whether I liked it or not. Everyone was so nice though, like I may as well count on it. We talked about my cabin, their cabins, wolves, cougars, deer, loons, the oil gushing into the gulf, eagles, their relatives in California, my relatives in Minnesota, my truck, his El Camino, and on and on and on ending with the Bean Hole in Pequot Lakes. This the name of a festival where they cook beans in a pit and then serve them up free to all who attend. I bought a baseball mitt for two dollars to supplement the one already in my truck. I got a doorknob set with key for $1.54, a little something for Lynea at a good price, and a western shirt for $1. I even found a sugar bowl and creamer to match that set I was drooling over the other day, in case I ever need to complete the set.
This evening, I decorated my new hard hat with some local flair.
I just got an email this evening about a whole set of 7 new windows I may pick up tomorrow at half their value and I'm hoping to get another heater in the same town as the cabinets tomorrow evening. If I keep this up, I might not even have to go to a store to get my lumber!
The boom operator/truck driver had a remote control for moving the crane-like fork lift dealimabob.
The blocks took under an hour to off-load, and then I spent a couple more hours moving blocks into position to facilitate construction.
After my work was all done, Dustin and Joel had me over for another lovely dinner and Paul got to join us too, as he was working in the lab in the evening. I cut out after dinner to go look at some kitchen cabinetry I'm interested in buying. It was a really beautiful set so I offered the seller his asking price of $550 cash which he declined. He thought someone would offer him more today, which was true. He called me this evening to let me know he was offered $600, so I told him I'd go $700. We settled on that and I've got an appointment tomorrow evening to go pick them up. This is one of four pieces included in the purchase. I really hope the price doesn't go up anymore before I get there!
Before I left yesterday, I bought from the same guy these two baseboard heaters for $20 for the pair, about half their retail cost.
Today's shopping began with this Craigslist find. It's a really nice window supposedly valued around $350 I picked up in Brainerd in unused condition for $100.
After I got the window, I got my long-overdue oil changed in Brainerd. While that work was being done, I was treated to this lovely display of my favorite cloud type, cumulus mammatus. As I left the house this morning, I was rain-drenched in the few seconds it took me to get from the garage to my car. Lightning was flashing multiple times per minute and I counted the thunder delay at two seconds. It was incredible and intense. When my oil change was done, the manager of the shop mentioned he'd noticed me taking pictures of the sky. I told him how I love this cloud type and that it's an indication of a dissipating thunder cell.
Then he mentioned casually that at 8:30, about five minutes before I rolled into town, the tornado warning siren went off and a funnel cloud sighting was reported just over Mills Ford, the car dealership pictured above. He looked out briefly before taking shelter in the pit where they change oil and said it was so dark and stormy, he was unable to see across the street to see any tornadoes first hand. I pieced together his story with my schedule and figure I was within 4-5 miles of the alleged funnel cloud. When I first got here, I was baffled that people wouldn't just take cover or drive the other direction when they see a tornado. I'm beginning to understand it's too stormy to see them as they form. Yikes.
The clouds parted, the sun came out, and I proceeded to seek out the world's loneliest antique shop owners who would hold me captive with conversation whether I liked it or not. Everyone was so nice though, like I may as well count on it. We talked about my cabin, their cabins, wolves, cougars, deer, loons, the oil gushing into the gulf, eagles, their relatives in California, my relatives in Minnesota, my truck, his El Camino, and on and on and on ending with the Bean Hole in Pequot Lakes. This the name of a festival where they cook beans in a pit and then serve them up free to all who attend. I bought a baseball mitt for two dollars to supplement the one already in my truck. I got a doorknob set with key for $1.54, a little something for Lynea at a good price, and a western shirt for $1. I even found a sugar bowl and creamer to match that set I was drooling over the other day, in case I ever need to complete the set.
This evening, I decorated my new hard hat with some local flair.
I just got an email this evening about a whole set of 7 new windows I may pick up tomorrow at half their value and I'm hoping to get another heater in the same town as the cabinets tomorrow evening. If I keep this up, I might not even have to go to a store to get my lumber!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
I'm Pretty Sure I'm a Shopaholic
Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe I just have good taste, or maybe it's an addiction. All I know is I really want to buy dishes. I encountered this issue last summer as I drove across the U.S. and Canada. I bought salt and pepper shakers in Minnesota, antique bowls and new plates in British Columbia, and a vibrant orange pitcher set with sugar bowl and creamer somewhere in between. I don't even eat cream. Then I got home and ordered about a dozen Pyrex bowls from ebay. I wondered at time of purchase if I'd regret getting those things. When I bought them, I envisioned them all in my kitchen in Minnesota but I love them so much I'm keeping them in California. They really help my little living space feel like a home. So now I'm re-dreaming the same Minnesota kitchen fantasy, and it's really hard not to buy stuff.
Over the past few weeks, I've been driving between Backus and Becida a lot. There are several antique stores between the two places and I've been telling myself I'd stop in and check them out as soon as I have time. I've been so busy as I travel back and forth that I only made my first stop yesterday. And I didn't really have time then either, I was late to meet the guys to go fishing! I entered the store and my first impression was that there was a whole lot of junk piled in a disorderly fashion from floor to ceiling. My second impression was that everything was overpriced; I saw a set of four Pyrex mixing bowls for 100 bucks! Gimme a break! I almost walked right back out, but there was SO much stuff, thousands of dishes, that I had to look around and at least see what they had.
I chatted with the shop-keeper and he asked me about the California economy and compared and contrasted it to Minnesota's. Then he turned on the radio and there was a talk show discussing the economy in Minnesota versus California. Weird. Most of the dishes didn't appeal to me, but there were a few sets I coveted majorly. I even took a second look at the hundred dollar Pyrex bowls and found their condition to be flawless. Second thoughts crept quickly into my mind, weakening my self-control...
Many of the dish sets were priced as a group, and many were priced as individual pieces. I hated to think about a nice set of dishes being all split up in different places... wouldn't the big plates miss the little saucers?? Gee, I wonder who has separation issues... I found two sets I nearly couldn't live without. One was a group of four Care Bear glasses. One glass was marked at $10 so I had to ask the shop keeper if that was the price for one glass or the set of four. It was for the set, so I bought them without hesitation. I know what you're probably thinking, so let me justify my desire for them: Firstly, Care Bears are probably the most positive demonstration of loving values and strong morals ever found in a child's toy. Secondly, the glasses were in like-new condition. They were copyright dated 1983 which means they came out when I was five years old, so thirdly, they appeal to me strongly through sweet childhood memories. Seeing the Care Bear movie in the theater was a really big deal to me in 1983. At Lynea's house, she has similar glasses themed with Star Wars on one set and Peanuts characters on another. One has a picture of Charlie brown in a river raft paddling fruitlessly in one direction while Woodstock has his fishing line snagged on something, behind Charlie Brown's back, holding the boat stationary. Charlie Brown's quote bubble says, "Rats, why is having fun always so much work?" That cracks me up and I think of it often when I'm sweating like a pig on a hike or something. Fourthly, drinking from the glasses is fun. Fifthly, each of the glasses has a bear bearing a different mood, so one could choose one's dish based on current or desired mood. Here are the glasses:
From left to right are pictured Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear, Tenderheart Bear, and Grumpy Bear. In case you can't tell from the picture, these are not shot glasses; they are full size drinking glasses, seven inches tall or so, probably hold a pint. Each one has a little catch phrase on the back. I can't remember them all, but Grumpy Bear's says, "Hugs Welcome." Awwwwww, if you're reading this, you're welcome to come over for a glass of water and a hug when my cabin's done.
In addition to the Care Bear glasses, I also spent a fair amount of time gazing at a set of antique glassware. It was service for eight including dinner plates, saucers, teacups, big bowls, small bowls, and dessert plates. The price was $99 which seemed high to me. But then I thought about how I spent sixty dollars at Target for service for four that just had 16 pieces total. This set had 48 pieces total which put it at just over two dollars per dish. The condition of the dishes was amazing. They were a milky white color and each dish was painted with a design I've never seen before. They had delicate pink flowers with the most intricate green stems and leaves. The tea cups were painted on their outsides and the plates and bowls all had the design right down in their centers. As I considered longingly, trying to justify it in my mind, the shopkeeper told me he would let the entire set go for $80. Then he added he's pretty sure he also has somewhere a sugar bowl and creamer to match the set which he would include in the price if he could find them. Aw man, he made it hard to say no. In the end, I convinced myself it was very impractical to buy the dish set right now. I told the shopkeeper, "I think I better get some walls before I get dishes." He gave me his card, told me to check back in soon to see if he found the two missing pieces, and said he'd hold the $80 price if I changed my mind in the future. I gave him my card too, and asked him to call me if he found the other two matching dishes. Lynea promises to look at the dish set and give me a second opinion when she arrives out here at the end of the month. I'm not sure I can wait that long...
Over the past few weeks, I've been driving between Backus and Becida a lot. There are several antique stores between the two places and I've been telling myself I'd stop in and check them out as soon as I have time. I've been so busy as I travel back and forth that I only made my first stop yesterday. And I didn't really have time then either, I was late to meet the guys to go fishing! I entered the store and my first impression was that there was a whole lot of junk piled in a disorderly fashion from floor to ceiling. My second impression was that everything was overpriced; I saw a set of four Pyrex mixing bowls for 100 bucks! Gimme a break! I almost walked right back out, but there was SO much stuff, thousands of dishes, that I had to look around and at least see what they had.
I chatted with the shop-keeper and he asked me about the California economy and compared and contrasted it to Minnesota's. Then he turned on the radio and there was a talk show discussing the economy in Minnesota versus California. Weird. Most of the dishes didn't appeal to me, but there were a few sets I coveted majorly. I even took a second look at the hundred dollar Pyrex bowls and found their condition to be flawless. Second thoughts crept quickly into my mind, weakening my self-control...
Many of the dish sets were priced as a group, and many were priced as individual pieces. I hated to think about a nice set of dishes being all split up in different places... wouldn't the big plates miss the little saucers?? Gee, I wonder who has separation issues... I found two sets I nearly couldn't live without. One was a group of four Care Bear glasses. One glass was marked at $10 so I had to ask the shop keeper if that was the price for one glass or the set of four. It was for the set, so I bought them without hesitation. I know what you're probably thinking, so let me justify my desire for them: Firstly, Care Bears are probably the most positive demonstration of loving values and strong morals ever found in a child's toy. Secondly, the glasses were in like-new condition. They were copyright dated 1983 which means they came out when I was five years old, so thirdly, they appeal to me strongly through sweet childhood memories. Seeing the Care Bear movie in the theater was a really big deal to me in 1983. At Lynea's house, she has similar glasses themed with Star Wars on one set and Peanuts characters on another. One has a picture of Charlie brown in a river raft paddling fruitlessly in one direction while Woodstock has his fishing line snagged on something, behind Charlie Brown's back, holding the boat stationary. Charlie Brown's quote bubble says, "Rats, why is having fun always so much work?" That cracks me up and I think of it often when I'm sweating like a pig on a hike or something. Fourthly, drinking from the glasses is fun. Fifthly, each of the glasses has a bear bearing a different mood, so one could choose one's dish based on current or desired mood. Here are the glasses:
From left to right are pictured Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear, Tenderheart Bear, and Grumpy Bear. In case you can't tell from the picture, these are not shot glasses; they are full size drinking glasses, seven inches tall or so, probably hold a pint. Each one has a little catch phrase on the back. I can't remember them all, but Grumpy Bear's says, "Hugs Welcome." Awwwwww, if you're reading this, you're welcome to come over for a glass of water and a hug when my cabin's done.
In addition to the Care Bear glasses, I also spent a fair amount of time gazing at a set of antique glassware. It was service for eight including dinner plates, saucers, teacups, big bowls, small bowls, and dessert plates. The price was $99 which seemed high to me. But then I thought about how I spent sixty dollars at Target for service for four that just had 16 pieces total. This set had 48 pieces total which put it at just over two dollars per dish. The condition of the dishes was amazing. They were a milky white color and each dish was painted with a design I've never seen before. They had delicate pink flowers with the most intricate green stems and leaves. The tea cups were painted on their outsides and the plates and bowls all had the design right down in their centers. As I considered longingly, trying to justify it in my mind, the shopkeeper told me he would let the entire set go for $80. Then he added he's pretty sure he also has somewhere a sugar bowl and creamer to match the set which he would include in the price if he could find them. Aw man, he made it hard to say no. In the end, I convinced myself it was very impractical to buy the dish set right now. I told the shopkeeper, "I think I better get some walls before I get dishes." He gave me his card, told me to check back in soon to see if he found the two missing pieces, and said he'd hold the $80 price if I changed my mind in the future. I gave him my card too, and asked him to call me if he found the other two matching dishes. Lynea promises to look at the dish set and give me a second opinion when she arrives out here at the end of the month. I'm not sure I can wait that long...
Monday, July 12, 2010
Making Friends
The last couple days have been as wonderful as the ones before. I've eaten good pork more times in the past few days than any other time I can remember! Today I went fishing with Tim and he told me after we had really good crock pot BBQ pork sandwiches for lunch that if I stick around, I'm gonna fill out. Yikes, I better be careful!
Yesterday I went to Becida Community Church for the first time with Paul and his whole family. There was fun singing and a pretty good sermon on hearing God. Apparently, the glitzy, flashy angel business and burning of bushes is rare, and we should allow in more subtle messages. Many of the locals I've met around here attend that church. Two of Constable Bob's brothers were even in the band!
Recently, I met Paul's friend Bryan who is a local residential contractor. Paul and I stopped by a house he was building last week and he showed us around and it was really neat to see a building in process. I'm always looking for ideas. We saw Bryan at church and he invited me over to have lunch, as Paul and Melanie were planning to barbecue with him anyway. His family was so welcoming and the his house was amazing. Not only did I get some design inspiration, but he also took a look at my drawings of my own cabin and basically answered every single question I had about my building. Not only that, he also offered to help me build my stairs if I get stuck, and he offered to sell me some needed materials for cheap, as they are used! Wow, I can't believe how generous and helpful everyone has been to me so far. On top of the rest, Bryan said he has some logs I can just have which were cleared from the area one of his homes is being built! Today I saw Constable Bob at Sid's and Bob said he'd help me mill the logs into lumber. That would be so neat to be able to make some boards to use; I'm very excited thinking of it!
After lunch yesterday, I went back to Backus and in the evening and had a meeting with Nathan about my basement. He explained to me some plumbing and electrical considerations as they relate to the masonry in my basement, and also helped me iron out a couple design kinks around my dormer. He figured out how many cement blocks I'll need based on my wall dimensions, minus the windows. Now I'm up in Becida again and will be at my lot tomorrow when the blocks for my basement arrive. Between my meetings yesterday with Nathan and Bryan, I've got a pretty solid handle on my general design and floor plan. Now I'm dreaming of exterior paint colors.... Please comment links to any pictures of your favorite color schemes you may find online.
Today, Monday, I woke up and headed up to go fishing with Paul, his two sons, his friend Tim, and our buddy Curt. Tim lives on a 40 acre lake that is completely encompassed by land owned by his family. In other words, it's a private lake and even bears the name of his family! I arrived after everyone else and by then they had a bunch of large mouth bass and one big ol' northern pike. I caught a couple bass around 15 inches long and it was so fun and relaxing to be out with them catching fish. Tim had a nice big pontoon boat and he even made the pontoons himself. He's a fiberglass worker who makes really nice canoes.
Here's Tim holding up that big northern. Look at the mammoth size of that fillet!
Tim is not only a canoe-maker, but an artisan of many other crafts as well. His skill set includes the making of bows, arrows, bow strings, knives, baskets, his log home, and I can't wait to see what else. I'm really hoping I get to see him at work with his crafts at some point this summer. Here is a box of wooden bows Tim made by hand. He says he uses many different kinds of wood. Of the local woods he uses, he named ash and one other type I can't remember.
When I asked to see his bows, Tim predicted I'd like this one best and boy was he right! Many of the bows have a beautiful leather grip and some other small embellishment. This one however stood apart; it was covered entirely on one side with snake skin! Not only was it the best looking one, in my opinion, but it had the most wonderful smooth, cool texture to it.
This is Curt cleaning our big pile of fish.
This picture is pretty grody, but I'm of the opinion if we're going to eat meat, we should take a look at where it comes from once in a while. Fish is delicious and good for us, but kinda yucky between the lake and the plate.
We all had a nice visit at Tim's and a wonderful lunch put on by his wife Faith. When we'd had our fill and the fish were all cleaned, Tim and Faith sent me on my way with about ten large fillets of fish and a quart jar of some spicy peppers I mentioned I enjoyed during lunch. I went back to Paul's, tuned his banjo, played a bit and had a little nap. Joel returned home from his first day at his GIS job in Walker, and so we fried up fresh fish for dinner at his place next door. Fish, salad, and Dustin's homemade bread made a perfect end to the day. The kids are getting less shy of me and as ever, the company was lovely.
Yesterday I went to Becida Community Church for the first time with Paul and his whole family. There was fun singing and a pretty good sermon on hearing God. Apparently, the glitzy, flashy angel business and burning of bushes is rare, and we should allow in more subtle messages. Many of the locals I've met around here attend that church. Two of Constable Bob's brothers were even in the band!
Recently, I met Paul's friend Bryan who is a local residential contractor. Paul and I stopped by a house he was building last week and he showed us around and it was really neat to see a building in process. I'm always looking for ideas. We saw Bryan at church and he invited me over to have lunch, as Paul and Melanie were planning to barbecue with him anyway. His family was so welcoming and the his house was amazing. Not only did I get some design inspiration, but he also took a look at my drawings of my own cabin and basically answered every single question I had about my building. Not only that, he also offered to help me build my stairs if I get stuck, and he offered to sell me some needed materials for cheap, as they are used! Wow, I can't believe how generous and helpful everyone has been to me so far. On top of the rest, Bryan said he has some logs I can just have which were cleared from the area one of his homes is being built! Today I saw Constable Bob at Sid's and Bob said he'd help me mill the logs into lumber. That would be so neat to be able to make some boards to use; I'm very excited thinking of it!
After lunch yesterday, I went back to Backus and in the evening and had a meeting with Nathan about my basement. He explained to me some plumbing and electrical considerations as they relate to the masonry in my basement, and also helped me iron out a couple design kinks around my dormer. He figured out how many cement blocks I'll need based on my wall dimensions, minus the windows. Now I'm up in Becida again and will be at my lot tomorrow when the blocks for my basement arrive. Between my meetings yesterday with Nathan and Bryan, I've got a pretty solid handle on my general design and floor plan. Now I'm dreaming of exterior paint colors.... Please comment links to any pictures of your favorite color schemes you may find online.
Today, Monday, I woke up and headed up to go fishing with Paul, his two sons, his friend Tim, and our buddy Curt. Tim lives on a 40 acre lake that is completely encompassed by land owned by his family. In other words, it's a private lake and even bears the name of his family! I arrived after everyone else and by then they had a bunch of large mouth bass and one big ol' northern pike. I caught a couple bass around 15 inches long and it was so fun and relaxing to be out with them catching fish. Tim had a nice big pontoon boat and he even made the pontoons himself. He's a fiberglass worker who makes really nice canoes.
Here's Tim holding up that big northern. Look at the mammoth size of that fillet!
Tim is not only a canoe-maker, but an artisan of many other crafts as well. His skill set includes the making of bows, arrows, bow strings, knives, baskets, his log home, and I can't wait to see what else. I'm really hoping I get to see him at work with his crafts at some point this summer. Here is a box of wooden bows Tim made by hand. He says he uses many different kinds of wood. Of the local woods he uses, he named ash and one other type I can't remember.
When I asked to see his bows, Tim predicted I'd like this one best and boy was he right! Many of the bows have a beautiful leather grip and some other small embellishment. This one however stood apart; it was covered entirely on one side with snake skin! Not only was it the best looking one, in my opinion, but it had the most wonderful smooth, cool texture to it.
This is Curt cleaning our big pile of fish.
This picture is pretty grody, but I'm of the opinion if we're going to eat meat, we should take a look at where it comes from once in a while. Fish is delicious and good for us, but kinda yucky between the lake and the plate.
We all had a nice visit at Tim's and a wonderful lunch put on by his wife Faith. When we'd had our fill and the fish were all cleaned, Tim and Faith sent me on my way with about ten large fillets of fish and a quart jar of some spicy peppers I mentioned I enjoyed during lunch. I went back to Paul's, tuned his banjo, played a bit and had a little nap. Joel returned home from his first day at his GIS job in Walker, and so we fried up fresh fish for dinner at his place next door. Fish, salad, and Dustin's homemade bread made a perfect end to the day. The kids are getting less shy of me and as ever, the company was lovely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
