Welcome to Domek Lesny!



This blog is dedicated to our house in the north woods of Wisconsin.  We took ownership of the house after Joe's father died in March of 2006.  It needed a lot of TLC as the work was beyond Joe's father in the later years.  This blog is the tale of our clean-up, restoration and decoration efforts.  We decided to name the property Domek Lesny as it means forest cottage in Polish.

In the three years after my Fathers death a lot of work has gone in the house. The 1st floor or "road" level of the house has been totally remodeled or redecorated. The last 2 year with the help of Susan, Larry, Pam and Lou we started to basement or "Lake Level" of the house. And early in 2009 the basement was finally finished. This year, 2009, it is all outside work. The house has been repainted. New gutters, a new sidewalk, retaining wall, and drive way repairs are underway.

Joe Wardzala

        

We closed  Domek Lesny up for the winter today. I am actually looking forward to a 5 month break. But I am already planning the projects for next year. 1 major one,  rip out the front steps and replace them with a new wooden desk. I have plans sketched out just need finallize them. And I need to repair the boat house, that should just be a minor project. But who knows.




We had snow. About 2 to 3 inches fell. It made it really hard to rake the leaves. I was mostly raking snow. Not all the leaves have fallen, but they will be there next year.

Closing things up this year was different. I used an air compressor with a special fitting I made to blow out all the water pipes. And a shop vac to pull out any water that was not blown out. The pipes are dry. And I only used 3 gallons of RV Anti-freeze down the drains. last year I did 7 gallons, but 2 gallons of that went in the water pipes. So after 3 years I finally got it right, no worries about frozen pipes.

And for the last 3 years I would put my Dad's Urn at the dining room table and deal out a hand of solitaire. He was to protect the house during the winter. Last year my mother joined him, she was in the kitchen. This year since my parents are in a grave in Whispering Pines, I have no one to guard the house. Then I remembered that I have Max's ashes (Max the Cat). So he is sitting and the dining room table playing solitaire.

Max, keep the house safe. See you next year.

Joe

        

Labor day was later this year. I guess it goes a long with the early memorial day. Believe it or not this year the most work was completed on the house, and I did none of it.

First the house was stained/painted. Then the bathroom shower door was installed. New gutters installed. The driveway sealed. New Retaining wall, front side walk and driveway. Oh and then there were the 5 cubic yard of rocks! OK I did that part. How can I forget, the shed was torn down. Gee and all I did last year was one basement remodel. People are asking me what is next. I do have many projects to do; The front entry way needs to be redone. Boathouse repaired. Garages redone. But nothing really major that will take me an entire year to do.

I did some work this last weekend. I put the trim under the stairs to the basement.



I am glad I left the staris open. The plan was to cover the staris with drywall, or maybe build a closet under the stairs.

Over the next several trips I will bring my tools back home and get ready to close for the winter. And maybe start on projects back home in Illinois.

I have been doing some fishing. I like to spend the morning on the boat dock watching for local wild life. Here are some photos from the Lake.



Leaves are starting to change. And there is a chill in the air.




What the heck is that?



A crow in flight... I though it was a duck, then an eagle. But it was just a crow/

Only a few more trips!

Joe

        

As promised here is a photo from San Francisco. You a regular tourist would post a photo of the cable cars. Instead here is a trolley car.



Today I went to a different diner. Mel's Drive-in. I had a Chicken Pot Pie. It was great.

Joe

        

Sorry I have not posted to the blog in a while. Been kind of busy with other things. I have not done much work to the house. I have been fishing. I was very excited a few weeks ago when I caught a Bass on a Lure called a "Jitterbug". You cast it out and it floats on a surface and makes a bubbling sound as you reel it in. It is very relaxing. Except when you catch a fish, then it is very exciting. Bass love to fight and jump out of the water.

We went out to dinner out a local Italian place. I ordered the Iowa Pork Chop. You know it has to be good if it's from Iowa. If you know me, you know I love a good pork chop. When it came out, it was a plain gray. No burn marks, nothing. It looked like it was steamed or something. But he, never judge a book by it's cover. So I tried it, it had no flavor. It was possibly the worst Pork Chop I ever had. I will not directly name the place I had this at, but it was not my Mothers Pork Chop.

Now here is my secret to making the perfect pork chop. First of do not buy those whimpy chops! Get thick cut pork chops, over an inch. Now you have to cook them on a Weber grill, charcoal is preferred. The grill has to be well seasoned, that is not cleaned for a year or more. And cook it indirect, that is the coals are at the right and left side of the grill. No coals in the middle. Season the chops to you liking, if cooked properly you could get away with no seasoning. The coals have to be very hot. Start by browning the chops directly over the coals for 5 minutes each side. Then move them to the center of the grill for 20 minutes or until cooked. Once you mastered the art of grilling the chops, then you can get creative like adding bacon, cheese, or what ever to the chops.

End of Joe's cooking lesson.

This week I am in San Francisco, Ca. for the VMWorld conference (www.vmworld.com). I will  post photos later in the week to prove I am really here and not virtually attending. San Francisco is my second favorite city, Chicago being my favorite. My favorite place to go for diner is Lori's Diner, a chain in San Francisco. It is in 1950s decor, or as close to it as you can get. They have a Big Cow on the counter that Moo's if someone orders a Milk Shake...at least that when I think when it Moo's. They also have the old style milk shake machines, that is they are blended. Reminds me when I was a kid, my parents had one of those. Actually I still have the Miik Shake machine, we all have things around from our childhood. The Milk Shake machine is my favorite. I had dinner at Lori's tonite. And I ordered the pork chops. OK I may have to go back and give them a lesson on cooking pork chops, they were not bad just not great.

San Francisco also has the Cable cars. I recommend spending an enire riding them. They have the old trolly cars too. I will try to get some photos while on break from the conference.

More to come later.

Joe

        

As promised below is a photo of the new sidewalk and driveway.



It is nice to be able to walk from the garage to the front door without tripping over chunks of side walk. Also, notice there is a new chimney cap. The new walk is 6 inches wider.

While on vacation a day before my birthday, a miracle happened. Almost. I put my contacts in and noticed I could not see. I thought maybe I had them reversed. So I switched them. Still bad. I spent about 30 minutes switching them in and out. I still could not see, so I left them out. Then I noticed I could see perfectly without my contacts. I had to rush and tell Susan. When i told Susan she asked if I did not have a pair of contacts in already. So I checked. And oh darn, I had a pair of contacts in already. Gee I guess that was my first senior moment.

Joe

        

We just returned from our 2 week vacation at Domek Lesny. A lot of things have changed in those 2 weeks. I have to comment on the loss of a entertainment legend. A man of many talents.  A man who changed the world. Of course I am talking about Billy Mays. Billy you will be missed. But wait there is more!

The weekend of the 4th we relaxed and enjoyed the weather and the wild life. Here are a few photos, words cannot describe them.





All of the photos were taken from our boat dock. All on July 4th. It makes me appreciate the natural beauty of the area.

My brother Larry joined us on July 5th. Of course I had to rush to get his new room ready. I decided the house had room for a 4th bedroom. So I converted the "workshop" in the basement to a bedroom.



It includes; A walk-in closest. Plenty of electric. A shower. A full bar. And a flat panel PDW TV on the wall. PDW Televsions are very new and I have a proto type.

July 6th was my 50th Birthday. Oh boy. For my birthday I received a new concrete block retaining wall!



I would like to thank Bob and Wally at A1 Concrete (Minocqua) plus their crew for the outstanding work they did. When the old wall was torn down we found a couple of Schlitz beers cans buried in the wall. The dates was from 1971. So the old wall lasted 38 years. I buried a Milwaukee's Best beer can in the wall, so the new wall is replaced they will know when it was put in.

The Sidewalk in front the house was also replaced. Photos will be posted later this week.

We did relax. Larry took us to River Stone in Eagle River for my birthday. I have to say that is my most favorite place in the northwoods. I highly recommend it.

And we did go fishing.




One we spent the entire afternoon fishing. We went across the lake because that used to be the best place to catch fish. Nothing. So after 3 hours we decided to head back to our shore line. Larry caught 2 Small Mouth Bass, I caught a perch. We did not keep them. I just enjoy catching and releasing the fish. Plus Susan does not want to see my Big Bass hanging on the wall again.

Pam and her husband Lou arrived with their Dog arrived Friday afternoon. And my niece Jessica and her husband Paul with their dog Morgan arrived later that day. We went out Saturday night to celebrate my and Paul's brithday. Well I was not suppose to say anything about or post any photos, but someone celebrated way too much!

        

During the last trip I did not take any photos of the new bathroom door. So here it is. Sorry about the reflections. And trust me, everything is done!

I was up this last weekend and noticed we have a bumper crop of Chipmunks and Black Squirrels. The Chipmunks are very helpful, they have been picking up the Maple tree seeds. I also noticed the house now has gutters, I did change the "Welcome to Domek Lesny" photo. And the repair of the blacktop driveway has started, just needs sealing and that will be done. Still not done is any of the concrete work, I am hoping that will be this week.

And I went fishing Sunday morning. I caught a fish! It was a small size small mouth bass. It was not a nice enough bass to keep, so I had to let the bass go. Maybe in a few weeks I will catch a nice large bass, so I can hang my bass on the wall.

Joe

        

I had several technical malfunctions this weekend so sorry this week I have no photos of the house. I just have this really cute photo of Riley. He like showing his profile!



We went up Thursday night so we could be there for the Glass guy to installed the Shower door and glass on Friday morning. Trust me it looks very nice. Thanks to HT Glass and Mirror for their very nice work.

I have decided it is a really a pain to head north via I94. Because of construction it adds an hour and half to the trip. So on the way back we took I90 instead, a lot less traffic and construction that way. So we might have to continue going that way until I94 is done. So this my mean we might stopped by Pam and Lou (only if they have Bugles).

It was a quiet weekend. I finished up cleaning up the all the dead Pine trees on the road side of the land. I still have the lakeside to do. I did cut down my Mothers favorite tree down. There was a Mountain Ash by the front door. it was looking pretty bad. My Dad had it held together with duct tape. I did not like because I could not see down the driveway from the front door. Now I can see everything! Some day I will catch the person throwing the Bud Light Tall Boy cans on my property! (geez when did I become my father?)

Susan went to Rhinelander to take a scrapbooking class on Saturday. I stayed home and cleaned out the woods and made sure the cats did not get into a fight. Nikki and Riley are starting to tolerate each other.

The Lake has a web site now. www.upperkaubashinepoa.com I willl put a link on the quick links.

That is it for now. Next time I will have photos of the house and the completed work.

Joe

        

We headed up for Memorial Day weekend. Traffic was bad, took us a while to get out of Illinois. We had 2 cats with us. Riley cried for about 4 hours straight. But did settle down. We stopped at Arby's on the way up, I won't mention the name of the town but it is famous for it's overalls. The Arby's was out of Beef, My Gosh how can Arby's run out of beef! And I wanted a Jamocha shake! Anyway Culvers got our business. Arby's get your act together!

We spent the weekend trying to get Nikki used to Riley. We are almost there. But Nikki has a really loud scream when Riley gets near her. We had to warn the neighbors.

Sunday while mowing the lawn and clean up the yard, I spotted this little fellow.



Riley the Cat is bigger than the fawn. I think it was born just that morning. His mother was no where to be found, but I did see her later.

And we did finally see the house repainted. Look below at the before and after photos.



The photo on the right or bottom is the after. And belive it or not that is the original color of the house (red cedar). The color was matched using a piece of siding stored away in the garage that had the original stain.

And yes everything is turning green up there.

Joe