Missing Him

We're missing this little Scout today - and every day.

Allen C. Hamilton

1987-2007

God is always good and God is always right.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Kiss-A-Minute

Since the beginning of my week didn't go as planned, I spent the day yesterday catching up on things around here - laundry, vacuuming, making bread, etc. Steve & I spent some time last evening tweaking the design of the posts for the loft railing. Therefore, I don't have a Sneak Peek Friday ready for you today. I have a short humorous piece for you instead.

When I was looking through the newspaper that had my great-great grandmother's obituary, I came across this little item. I left the husband's nickname the way the newspaper had it, but I changed all the real names to protect the innocent - or the guilty - or whatever. 

If Kiss-A-Minute Carter had been satisfied with only 5 eggs every morning, maybe the marriage could have been salvaged! 

All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S. Don't forget to set your clocks back before you go to bed tomorrow night!

Found!

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I was just finishing up a 3-day migraine. Yes, it was a doozy. On the mend now, though. I know I mentioned last week that Steve finally found the box containing the t.p. holder and the towel ring for the powder room. He's not sure how it got there, but he's pretty positive it's been in the basement for a long time.

I was thrilled when he brought the box upstairs. I did not pass go; I did not collect $200. I opened the box up immediately. Yep, there they were.

Whew! I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find them. Steve installed them for me that same evening. Like I said, no more t.p. sitting on the back of the throne!

And no more hand towel sitting on the sink.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Zip-A-Dee-A

My, oh my, what a wonderful day!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sadie & Storage

We're still in the laundry room today.

I lived on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin for the first 12 years of my life. We milked black & white cows - Holsteins. 

I guess I shouldn't say "we," as I wasn't the one doing the milking! We had too many cows to try to name them all, but we did name a few of our favorites. My favorite was Sadie. 

Sadie was so gentle that we could sit on her back when she was in her stanchion in the barn, and she didn't even mind. Well, if she did mind, she didn't show it. Steve bought me this cow down in Saginaw and had the sign made for it. He didn't want me to ever feel homesick for Wisconsin. I guess it worked!

Sadie's currently propped up on the shelf in the laundry room. I have a plan for the space on the wall to her right, so she'll be moving at some point in the near future, but she won't go far. I guess you can take the girl off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girl - not completely anyway. I have a tractor, too, but that's in another room.

I had originally planned to have cabinets above the washer and dryer. After living here a while, I decided to do open shelf storage instead. Remember, we're going to build a pantry in one corner of the laundry room. When I'm standing at the washing machine, the pantry will be in back of me. I know there will be plenty of room to maneuver in that area, but I was afraid it would feel too tight visually with cabinets above the washer and dryer. So, I opted for a long shelf instead. Since bottles of laundry soap and bleach aren't especially attractive, I bought a few baskets to hide my laundry supplies.

And I hopped back on Microsoft Publisher and made a few tags for those baskets.

My wise husband left plenty of room between the top of the appliances and the bottom of the shelf - in case we ever need to quickly reach the shut-off valves.

An added benefit is that the baskets allowed me to hide the electrical outlet and the cords for the appliances (in between the laundry soap and bleach baskets). Unless you walk over, stand in front of my washing machine, and peer in the little gap between those 2 baskets, you won't see them.

Like I said, I have a plan for the empty space on the wall above the laundry soap basket, so Sadie will be moving sometime soon. This is how the area looks right now.

Stay tuned. I'll have another post (or 2) about the laundry room.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Beating & Scrubbing

Continuing our tour of the laundry room:

We have it so easy nowadays. I don't personally know anyone who uses a coal stove to heat their home. Coal stoves were dirty. Some people still use wood, but even indoor wood burners or fireplace inserts aren't nearly as messy as using fireplaces with open hearths as your only heat source. Everything in your home got so much dirtier back then. 

Plus, we have vacuum cleaners now! Gone are the days when we had to hang our rugs, cushions and bedding over a railing and beat the dirt out of them. Thus, I don't use my 3 rug beaters for their intended purposes. They just add to the ambiance of the laundry room!

The one on the left and the one in the center came from Michigan antique stores. The one on the right came from a shop at Washington's Crossing, PA (where Washington made his historic crossing of the Delaware).

We aren't scrubbing our clothes on washboards today either.

I have 4 old washboards, and I like the fact that 3 of them say Saginaw.

They have water stains on them, so you can tell that someone did once use them for their intended purposes.

I got the brass one at a Calumet antique store before we moved to the U.P., and the one on the right had been left in the basement of our Calumet house.

The 2 glass washboards came from my mom and Steve's mom.

Laundry was such a chore back then!

Stay tuned for more laundry room posts.

P.S. We've had an exciting week here in the Keweenaw. First, Steve found the long lost towel ring and t.p. holder for the powder room! And he installed them! No more t.p. sitting on the back of the throne! If that wasn't excitement enough, we also got the last 2 faucets out of their boxes and installed in the sinks in the master bath. Did you get that? We actually have running water in the sinks in the master bath! All the plumbing is D-O-N-E. I'm simply giddy!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Loads of Fun

We're back in the laundry room again today. There's an antique store/coffee shop in Hancock that's going out of business at the end of this month. They're normally closed all winter, but they won't be opening up again. That makes us sad, as the owners are great fun to talk to and they make the best homemade scones we've ever had - sweet, moist and soft like a cookie. We're going to miss them - the owners and the scones.

Their business is in a beautiful old Victorian house. They had planned to sell the house and antique inventory to someone who wanted to continue the business, but the deal fell through; so they decided to liquidate their inventory and sell the house as a home. When we stopped there last month, the furniture was marked 65% off and everything else was 75% off. OK, it was time to pick up an antique iron for the laundry room. 75% off, c'mon!

This is an antique "sad iron" with a detachable handle. Why is it sad? "Sad" is an Old English word for "solid," and this little gal certainly is solid. . . and heavy.

The idea was to heat the iron on the stove, and the heat combined with the heavy weight of the iron would press out the wrinkles in your fabric. Did you know that a woman patented the first sad iron with a point on each end? Up until that time, they only had a point on one end. And she also came up with the idea of a detachable handle. 

They were sold in sets with 3 irons and 1 handle, so 2 irons could be heating on the stove while you were ironing with the 3rd. No more twiddling your fingers while the iron was reheating. Brilliant, huh?

Well, my sad iron needed some company. She would have been sad to sit on the shelf all by herself. I opened up Microsoft Publisher and designed a sign - modifying some ideas I found on the Internet - printed it on burlap - and slapped it in a frame.

The sad iron and the sign were still sad, so I pulled Grandma's antique sock darner out of the china cabinet.

3 things - better than 2. Odd - better than even.

Stay tuned for more fun in the laundry room.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

To Shame

I wasn't planning to post anything today, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share another video. Have you ever wondered what Brockway Mountain looks like from a drone? Of course! In the fall? You betcha!

Click on the following link to see it. This video puts my little digital camera video to shame - to shame I tell ya!

https://www.facebook.com/1428250617396536/videos/vb.1428250617396536/1711419962412932/?type=3&permPage=1

This link is hosted by Pasty Central and will get you instant access to the Brockway video. If you want to have even more fun, check out Da Brudders Adventures Facebook page for more beautiful shots and cool video of the Keweenaw.

The Pasty Central Facebook page is interesting, too. It has some good, short videos about U.P. history.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

More Fall Color

Since we can never get enough fall color, I've added 3 photos I snapped last Monday. The first was taken on Hwy. 41.

The next shot was taken when I was standing on top of Brockway Mountain. Lake Medora is in the distance. Lake Superior was in back of me.

We stopped at the Copper Harbor overlook on the way back down Brockway Mountain. That's where I snapped the next photo.

Lastly, I have 2 more short videos to share from the same day. The first one was shot on Hwy. 41 between our road and Copper Harbor again.

The last one was taken on top of Brockway Mountain. I should have had my tripod with me. Sorry about the shakiness. You can see our red Chevy Traverse near the end, but the bald guy standing near it isn't Steve.

Again, the photos and videos really don't do the scenery justice. It was so much prettier in person.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections + Bonus Video

Bonus Video: Hwy 41 between our road and Copper Harbor - taken on October 12, 2015. I wish the camera could have captured the true brilliant yellows, oranges and reds that we could see with our eyes. It was so, so much brighter in person. Of course, condensing the video in order to upload it to Blogger didn't help either. You'll get the general idea, though.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

More Critters

Just a short Saturday post today. We really enjoy watching all the birds at the feeder, so Steve does his best to make sure it always has seed in it. That's no easy task, as they eat a lot! Some birds like to eat at the feeder, and some prefer to eat the fallen seed off the ground.

It's always great to see the more colorful birds - like the goldfinches.

He's sticking his entire head in the hole.

Wait a minute! Look who's stealing birdseed!

Caught in the act - with the evidence still on him - uh, in him?

And. . . look who came back yesterday.

Mama and her young one have been reliable yard visitors since shortly after she gave birth. I love it how her ears are aimed forward and the youngster's ears are pointing back.

They stayed for quite a while even though they saw us moving around in the house.

Right front foot forward.

They went to the back of the lawn next and ate some apples we had on the ground before leaving. Such beautiful, graceful creatures.

All is well in the Keweenaw.