Countdown to a. . .

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Today's Giggle

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Looking Back

I spent some time looking back today. 

First, I looked back at some of our local snowfall totals for the season. The total I've been posting on the "Snowfall Chart" page this season was taken from a local source, and I had some doubts about the accuracy. During the final days of November and the early days of December, I suspect an addition mistake was made in his seasonal totals, and his total is more than what actually occurred. I have also been following the official Keweenaw County totals done by the Keweenaw County Road Commission. There were several days in November and December when Steve said he was getting a lot of measurable snow at the new house, but the Road Commission didn't record a total. Thus, I suspect their total isn't entirely accurate either, but it's less than what actually occurred. However, since I've used the Keweenaw County measurements as the guide for my Snowfall Chart for the last 3 years, I decided to go ahead and use their totals again. After all, the big "Snow Thermometer" along Hwy. 41 in Keweenaw County uses their totals, so I revised my "Snowfall Chart" page today to reflect the 92" Keweenaw County total instead.

Secondly, I spent some time looking back at the last 30 years and thinking about how different my life has been than I thought it would be. I married my first husband 30 years ago today. At that point, I presumed a long, happy marriage, two kids and grandkids would be in my future. Little did I know that Tom's life would be taken by a drunk driver 4-1/2 years later and I would spend a large part of my adult life as a widow. There was happiness, but there was also sadness and loneliness. Through it all, however, I always felt God's presence and I knew He was guiding my steps along the way, so I was usually content. Then, right when I wasn't expecting it, the Lord brought this wonderful man into my life.

What a blessing Steve has been, and I can't imagine my life without him in it. He makes all my days so pleasant and joyful, and he makes me laugh. What an incredible gift he is, and I thank the Lord for him every day!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sneak Peek Friday - More T & G

We hope your Christmas was a merry one. We had a nice day in Calumet with my mom and did our very best to overeat. That's required on Christmas, right?!

I have more photos of the tongue and groove for you this week. The tongue and groove has been the major project of the last couple of months, of course. These photos were all taken on December 20th. First, here's a shot of our master bedroom ceiling (smoke detector hanging).

Next is a wall in one of the guest bedrooms.

Another view of one of the guest bedrooms:

Most of the trim was on the loft ceiling when this shot was taken.

This is the center of the loft ceiling - the spot designated for our antique double angle light fixture. 

The last photo shows the trim work on the stairway with the temporary railing.

So, things are coming together. We won't be making our permanent move by New Year's Eve, but we're getting close. 

All is well in the Keweenaw.

We wish you a. . .

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Holy Night

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sneak Peek Friday - Evolution

The evolution of the great room ceiling:

The final two photos were taken last week. Things are progressing, and Steve says we've had some major changes this week!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells. . .

Busy, Busy, Busy in the Keweenaw! But, all is well!

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sneak Peek Friday - Great Room Ceiling

We're going back into the great room for another sneak peek at the ceiling. What a long, complicated process it has been! We're so thankful that we hired someone to help us with it, so Steve hasn't had to be the one climbing the scaffolding every day. These photos were taken last Saturday; more progress has been made since then.

The next photo was taken from the loft.

The last photo was taken at the level of the top tier of scaffolding. Steve climbed that yellow ladder to snap it for us. You can see the ceiling fans (without blades - but with a protective layer of sawdust!).

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sneak Peek Friday - More Pine

Time seems to have gotten away from me this week. I almost forgot that it was Friday. Mom and I have been trying to recuperate from all the work associated with moving, and I can't say that I've accomplished a whole lot. We're going to spend the day running errands in Calumet and Houghton today, so I'm posting this rather early. 

We had an electrician here on Wednesday for some work in our Calumet basement. We had a gas dryer and Mom has an electric dryer, so we needed to change the outlet to accommodate that. Plus, when we hastily installed the sump pump during that freaky rapid meltdown our first Spring here, we never installed an outlet nearby. We've had a long orange extension cord running to it. As long as the electrician was here, we had him install an outlet with a separate breaker on the panel box for that. Mom also had a lamp that needed a new switch, and I gave him our antique double angle lamp that we're going to use in our loft. It needed to be rewired. He actually returned both of those items to us this morning already, so we were happy about that. Steve hooked up Mom's washing machine on Sunday, and I attached the dryer vent after the electrician left on Wednesday. It was nice to be able to do laundry again. It's amazing how much can accumulate in just 9 or 10 days.

Now, for today's sneak peek - more pine. Pine in the laundry room and kitchen specifically. Today's photos were all taken back in October. The first one shows the laundry room wall that's directly in front of you when you walk in from the garage. Our washer and dryer will sit against the wall on the right (which was paneled shortly after this photo was taken). 

The laundry room window is between the coat closet and the pantry. Our Amish buggy bench will be below the window - a good place to sit while putting on our boots.

There's a larger coat closet in the foyer, so this closet will probably be used to hold Steve's "work" jackets and boots.

Next is the window above the kitchen sink. You may wonder why some of the tongue and groove pine under the window wasn't staggered. The kitchen cabinets will cover that area, so Steve wisely used up some of his scrap boards there.

You may have also noticed the copper pendant light. It will look like the one in the following photo when it's little cage is attached.

Lastly, here's a shot looking past that same kitchen window and into the dining area. I'm really looking forward to sharing meals with my husband there!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Thanksgiving Morning

I just want to share one quick photo today, as I have some errands to run. Steve snapped this photo through the patio doors at the new house on Thanksgiving morning.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

Lake Superior Shore, Copper Harbor, Michigan

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sneak Peek Friday - Guest Bath Floor

We hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. We thanked the Lord for His unconditional love and gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We also thanked Him for our family and good friends and for all He has done for us again this year - including giving us the stamina we needed during these last few weeks. 

The furniture store delivered Mom's new bed and small chest freezer on Wednesday, and Steve moved the last few things out of Mom's townhouse yesterday - mostly pantry food and a few small fragile items the movers didn't want to move for her. Mom has just a little more cleaning she wants to do at her townhouse today before giving the keys back to the landlord. She doesn't want me to help. Just like a mother to be more worried about her daughter's back than she is her own.

We enjoyed a simple Thanksgiving dinner of turkey breast, corn bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, cole slaw, rolls, cranberry sauce and apple pie (with ice cream and/or Cool Whip) for dessert. Yes, it was the "store bought" pie, but it was really very good! We had a tasty meal, a table to eat at, comfortable furniture to sit on, and beds to sleep in. Oh, Steve and I also made a quick trip to Houghton to pick up a few screamin' deals at Walmart. No shopping today, though.

Now, onto business. Your sneak peek today is from the guest bathroom again. The floor has been installed!

Keep in mind: There's a piece of cardboard protecting the floor of the shower stall and most of the brown protective tape strips are still adhered to the shower stall walls.

The next photo shows the colors a bit more true-to-life.

The guest bath vanity that Steve made should work very well with the floor. I'm pleased.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Be Ye Thankful

All is well in the Keweenaw.

We Survived!

We did survive another big day of moving. I'll try to blog about it within the next few days. Still busy.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Hard Work

Moving is such hard work. We're all exhausted. The movers will be here in about 8 hours. We still have a few things to do before they get here, but a little sleep comes first! We had pretty good melting of some of our deep snow over the weekend, but it has been snowing all day today. Of course, let's make the move a little more difficult. Poor Steve will have to do some snow removal in Calumet before the movers get here. Then, he'll have to head to the new house to plow that driveway before they get there, too! We should be feeling some significant relief 24 hours from now.

Thanksgiving will be a turkey breast in the crock pot, and I confess - I actually bought a pie. (Let's just keep that between us. OK?)

All is well in the Keweenaw anyway.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

What an Ordeal!

I don't hear that phrase very often anymore, but I think it applies - if ordeal is defined as "an experience that is very unpleasant or difficult." (Merriam-Webster) 

What was the ordeal? Packing and moving most of our possessions - and many of my mom's possessions - with a U-Haul - in November - in the snow!

Does that mean we're not excited about our new house?
Of course not. 
Does that mean we're not looking forward to unpacking our possessions at the new house?
Absolutely not.
Does that mean we wish we would have stayed in Saginaw?
No way! 
No pain, no gain. Right?

OK, back to the ordeal. Let me set this up. The new house isn't done enough for me to move into yet. Steve is working on the house and staying there during the week. He comes home on Saturday nights and leaves again on Monday mornings. Call me crazy, but I want a functioning bathroom and a functioning kitchen; and I prefer to live without saws, scaffolding and piles of sawdust in my living spaces. I know. I'm really spoiled that way. Mom is moving into our Calumet house. When we told her to give notice to her landlord, we had no idea that winter was going to arrive so heavy - so early. The snow has slowed some of the progress on the new house the last 2 weeks, but we decided to move many of our things anyway. The longer we wait, the deeper the snow will get for the next 4 or 5 months. We rented a U-Haul and enlisted some help. Our original intention was to move items in several trips in several days. As last weekend drew near and we watched the forecast, we knew we had to move as much as possible in one day and that day had to be Sunday - not what we would prefer, as we don't like to miss church. But, Sunday it was. It was a good decision, as the forecast proved to be true.

We picked up the U-Haul truck at 9:00 a.m. and the first piece of furniture left the Calumet house at 10:18 a.m.

It was the coffee table.

Yes, it was cold. Yes, that's a Yooper teen wearing shorts in November.

The crew worked really hard for 9 hours. They got things moved from the Calumet house to the basement of the new house. Then, they moved things (mostly boxes) from Mom's townhouse to our Calumet house. We ordered pizzas and ate during the final 20 laps of the Nascar race before they unloaded the last load from the truck. 

The professional movers are coming on Tuesday to move our big items out of Calumet (bed, triple dresser, 2 armoires, washer, dryer and upright freezer). Then, they'll move everything remaining in Mom's townhouse into this house. 

I did snap some photos on Sunday. Here's the kitchen BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

That brown rug caught a lot of snow tracked across the living room, so I spread it out on the kitchen floor to dry. 

Here's some of what's left in the office. I have to leave my desk, computer and printer set up in there to work on the church books until I make the permanent move to the new house. Mom will use this room as a guest room.

The front door area BEFORE:

AFTER:

Next, the living room the way it usually looked for the last 3 years:

 

Remember how our friends recently purchased a home up here in Mohawk? They aren't ready to make their permanent move yet (probably in 2016). When they were here 7 weeks ago, we gave them our plaid sofa to use in their Mohawk house until they move, and we moved our recliner from the office into the living room. So, here's the most recent BEFORE view of the living room.

DURING:

AFTER - with 2 of Mom's end tables and her lawn chairs.

Moving during the winter is extremely messy and hard on your carpeting. I was doing my best to keep the traffic patterns covered at the beginning of the day on Sunday, but it was impossible with 5 men making hundreds of trips back and forth. I had a lot to do and couldn't stay in the living room all day rearranging rugs, so I gave up and decided not to obsess about it. Since the professional movers are coming on Tuesday, it made no sense to have the carpet cleaned this week. Mom is thinking about replacing the carpeting in January anyway.

Moving is also extremely hard on your back. The men held up better than I did. By the time I finished cleaning up the floors on Sunday night, mine was in pretty bad shape. This was my view all day on Monday.

Yep, the bedroom ceiling. Those blue lawn chairs were the only things I left myself to sit on. Not too smart for someone with a bad back. Steve brought me one of our collapsible chairs on Tuesday that was large enough to "pad" with some firm pillows. That enabled me to sit with ice on my lower back - very, very helpful - and my back had improved significantly by Tuesday night.

Mom needed some smaller furniture for this living room, and the furniture store was able to deliver her new sofa, chair and ottoman yesterday - a little too floral for my taste, but she loves it. The pieces are very comfortable, so that's helpful for my back, too.

What's next? Again, the movers are coming on Tuesday, and Mom is moving into our Calumet house. On Wednesday, the store will deliver her new bed and small chest freezer. 

Since I can't move into the new house yet, we're leaving our queen guest bed in the Calumet basement. The basement has a small bathroom with a shower. We'll give Mom the full use of the bedroom and bath on the main floor, and I'll crash downstairs until the new house is done enough to move into (by Jan. 1st?). Steve will stick to his current schedule of returning to Calumet on Saturday nights and leaving on Monday mornings. 

Most of our pictures are still on the Calumet walls, and our things are still in the kitchen cupboards and pantry. I'll do the cooking and we'll use my pots and pans and dinnerware. As our permanent move-out date draws near, I'll pack my kitchen items and unpack Mom's things. The wall decor will probably morph into her wall decor throughout the month of December.

Wow, this post has taken me way too long to prepare. I cut my finger on a dog food can the other day, and I'm a 10-finger typist, not a 2-thumb texter. I was able to downsize to this smaller bandage yesterday afternoon,

but it's still too bulky to allow me to type properly. Very annoying.

All is well in the Keweenaw. 

P.S. We have been experiencing some cold weather, but I haven't turned blue. That was just some photo editing fun.