Domek Lesny Blog

Domek Lesny

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:07:00 GMT

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

2009 closing

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:06:00 GMT

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

Fall is in the air 2009

Joe Wardzala — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:27:00 GMT

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

images from San Francisco

Joe Wardzala — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:43:00 GMT

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

That's not a pork chop!

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:05:00 GMT

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

New sidewalk

Joe Wardzala — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:25:00 GMT

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

What we did on our summer vacation. (or Joe turns 50)

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:27:00 GMT

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!

Bathroom update

Joe Wardzala — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:47:00 GMT

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

Rye Guy

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:06:00 GMT

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

Where's the beef

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:43:00 GMT

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

Stairs, Basement complete

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:34:00 GMT

I had to head up this weekend because at the end of the last trip I noticed I had to replace some of the siding. I wanted to get that done before the re-staining of the houses is done. I was in luck the staining did not start. I thought it would be an all day job to replace the siding. It was not too bad, it only took an house or so. So with the extra time I finished up the work in the basement. I had to install the wood mouldings.

As you can see the stair stringers are now an off white (ivory). And I have a crown molding along the wall beneath the stairs. And I trimmed out the area where the drywall meets the stairs. I decided to leave the bottom of the stairs exposed.I also touched up the paint and put back of the switch and outlet plates.

I am officially calling the basement done! I know the shower doors still need to go in the bathroom, but a contractor is doing that so it does not count.

What is next? Well the outside. Believe it or not that will be done in 2 weeks. The housed is being restained/painted. New sidewalks and retaining walls are going in. The driveway is being repaired. Depending up on contractors we might have a new front deck this summer.

I guess it time to add a 3rd story so I have some work to do.

Joe

It took 3 years but the inside of the house is entirely remodeled or redecorated.

Meet Riley

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:38:00 GMT

Hi. I am Riley. I am 2 year old Maine Coon. On April 28th I adopted two new Humans, Susan and Joe. This last weekend Joe brought me to see my vacation home. I have a lot of work to do on the place. There are Chipmunks every where!. While Joe was painting the stringers for the basement stairs from that ugly brown to an Ivory color when a chipmunk tried to walk across my deck, luckily I was there to chase it away!

A couple of guys came and washed the house, garage and boathouse to get it ready to be re-stained. Joe took this photo of the boathouse. He said it does not look too bad for 38 years old. Joe said he finally had to throw out the piece of plywood that has been leaning against the door for all of those 38 years.

Susan brought her Friend Amy to go to a Scrapbooking convention. I love the scrapbook too! I helped Amy and Susan by laying on the paper I liked and chewing on ribbons and enything else I could sink my teeth into. Susan and Amy showed Joe everything the made and bought at the convention, he was not interested but I was!

I had a really good time this weekend. Too bad Joe had to take me back to Illinois. The have Cats in that house! I am not a cat! I am a Maine Coon.

Later, Riley

Spring 2009

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:00:00 GMT

We just got back from our Spring 2009 Vacation. The first few days were spent out in Nebraska with Susan's Grandmother Elly. She is 98 and still going strong.

We headed to Domek Lesny on Tuesday. The Lake still had ice but that did not stop me from putting in 3/4ths of the boat dock.

I was not too worried about the ice. it was more like a giant 7-11 Slurpee! Except without the flavoring.

It was a perfect week to be up there. It was in the 60s and sometimes lower 70s. And for the first time in my life I saw the ice go out on the lake. We had geese and ducks returning to the area. We did spring cleaning. I spent most of the time cleaning up the dead pine trees and I have the cuts to prove it. And I had to clean up a dead deer that looks like it died on out beach last fall, yuk!

We visited with the neighbors. Went to town a few times. And yes we did go to the Oneida County Landfill, the highlight of any trip. I cleaned out the garage, my Dad did have a lot of stuff. And I still have 2 garages to clean out.

I started to line up contractors for this years work; A painter to stain and paint the exterior, they should be done by Mid-May. I have a shower door lined up, should be installed in May as well. And a concrete person to replace the falling retaining wall (so far only 1 takers on my when the wall will fall pool), and the sidewall and driveway apron and the Chimney cap.

Other work is to find someone to reseal the driveway and fix the cracks. This years should be pretty be pretty easy on me.

We did go to one of our favorite local Brew Pubs for dinner. We did have wait in line. While waiting a bunch of guys came in, perhaps in their 30s or maybe 40s. They kept calling each other "Dude". In my opinion when you hit they age of 25 you need to stop using the term "Dude".

And you should notice I change a few of the images on the blog.

Joe

May I help you?

Joe Wardzala — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 10:31:00 GMT

People who know me, know that I love going to home improvement stores. My favorite used to be Menards. But now it is Home Depot. Home Depot has more of the things I need. Lately I have noticed a big change at Home Depot. I used to be able to walk into Home Depot, grab a cart and wonder the store for hours before having an employee asking me if I needed help. Now they have people lined up at the entry ways asking you if you need help.

During my last trip to the Rhinelander Home Depot (who always have been helpful) I had a list of things to buy. When I walked in the door right away I was asked if they could help me. I said not really I have a list of things I need. She said give me the list. Right away she took me through the store finding everything I need quickly. I was done shopping in a few minutes. Now where is the fun in that! One of the challenges of going to Home Depot is to find things on your own, get frustrated, get mad becuase no one helps you, and then come back a week later to do the same thing over again. I can have people helping me to find things quickly.

Now I thought this might have been just a local things with Home Depot. So last week I went to 3 different home depots. They all have people lined up at the door asking you if you need help. One store was so bad I felt like I was in a scene from the movie "Airplane" where Stricker is trying to get through the Airport where religious zealots coming up to him to talk about their causes, he pushed them to the side or punches them. While walking through Home Depot I felt like screaming "just leave me alone!" or punch a few.

We are speding Easter in Nebraska with Susan's grand mother. We flew in to Omaha and rented a car. While driving to Grandma's I heard the person on the radio talk about how when you walk into any store now a days sales people are lined up to help you. I guess it's the economy driving this change.

I can't wait until the economy gets better so I can get bad customer service again.

Joe

2009 Season begins

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:56:00 GMT

This last weekend was the official opening of Domek Lesny. I have to say it was the smoothest opening ever. No Broken pipes, I had heat, water, telephone and the most important one of all Television. We did have a few minor issues.

I did finally put in the vanity in the downstairs bathroom. I had to move the drain or waste line up about 6 inches. Which did require a trip to home depot. Below is an image of the bathroom. I do have to finish up some drywall touch up. And then we do have to get a shower door and glass.

And the house does have a new look. Friday I had both fireplaces cleaned out. Thanks to Bessemer Chimney Services for their work. We have new dampers that sit at top of the chimney. Below is the latest photo of the house. Can you spot the change?

Note. The Chimney is too big for the house. It coould have been 20 inches narrower. It has an extra flue, which we think was for the furnace.

And I starting a pool. Resorts up here have pools going on when the ice is going to go out on the lakes. Please note it almost always April 14th or 15th. Last year it was May 2nd. My pool is......

When is my retaining wall going to fall over? Send me 5 bucks with your guess, and the person who guesses the closest without going over wins the pool. I iwll post the entries on the blog.

Joe

Max

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:11:00 GMT

Max “The Cat”

Today we lost a long time friend and companion. Max “the Cat”. He was 18 years old. To remember Max I would like to share some one my favorite stories about Max. And the above is my favorite photo of Max.

Max came into our lives in May 1996. At that time we had only 1 cat, Cio Cio San. And we were not really looking for another cat. But one day at work we had a student who sent an e-mail to everyone at work. That student was selling, a computer, a car and a cat. I asked Susan if she was interested, and to my surprise she said yes we could take a look. Little did she know I meant the computer.

When we took a look we immediately fell in love with him. He was big and very playful. He loved playing with a rope, which we still have. It was amazing how fast he could move around. So we took him home. His original name was Ares, but he did not look like an Ares the Greek God of War. Max was more of a gentle giant.

On the way home he cried all the way. I felt really bad and thought I made a mistake taking him. We arrived home and all he did was hide under the bed in our guest room. And the next day Susan had to go into the Hospital for tests (not related to getting Max). So I was home alone with him. I remember I was trying everything to get him to come out. Finally I pulled out a hair brush and he came out and let me brush him a little. Then a little more, and more and more. Well 2 hours later I was still brushing him.

Susan called me from the Hospital and asked how he was doing. I told her he made me brush him. I remember Susan saying how can a cat make you brush him? I said wait and see. Turns out he loved being brushed!

Max is named after my Parents dog that was named after a Cat named Max. And he loved the name Max.

A year later we decided to adopt another Cat. Well that turned out to be 2 kittens, Maggie and Pete.

Max loved Maggie like a little sister. He watched out for her. He chased Pete away when he got to rough with her. He protected her. One day we bought a small kitchen appliance. And we put the box the on the floor. Well Maggie loved the box. She would sleep in the box, chew on the box and play all around the box. We called it Maggie’s box. And we could never through it away.

Once day Maggie was playing in her box and while she was not paying attention, Max stepped into the box and laid down. When Maggie saw that and if she could have talked she would have said “What are you doing in my Box!”. She swatted at him to get him to leave her box. Maggie finally had to whack Max in the butt to make him move. One thing about Max you could tell he was playful when he got all fluffed up! And was very fluffed up that day.

5 years ago Max became diabetic. He required daily insulin shots. When first got the prescription for Max they made it out to Max “the Cat” Wardzala. We went to the local Pharmacy to get it filled. We waited for the prescription to be filled and they would call on the intercom when it was ready. When it was ready they announced “Prescription for Max “THE Cat”. I told Susan it sound like a Mafia hit man name. Max never considered himself a cat. Being a Maine Coon mix, you never call them cats. You call them Maine Coons.

Max had a way of giving hugs. He would head butt you with his forehead. Susan would stop whatever she was doing when Max came by and gave her a head butt. Recently, when Max was really sick we had to rush him to the emergency room. He was in insulin shock. They had to keep him over night. When we picked him up the next day he could not stand up. But when he we were about to leave he stood up, turned around and gave his nurse a head butt. It was his way of saying thank you.

We say farewell to Max and he joins his sisters; Cio Cio San and Maggie. We will miss you.

Joe

Valentines Weekend

Joe Wardzala — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:48:00 GMT

We went for a visit this weekend. I have been worrying about the water pipes because I was not sure if I drained all the water. We stayed at a resort on that "other" lake. The resort was nice www.blackscliff.com. We actually stayed in the cabin in the top photo on their web page. We even met Poe (the Dog in the photo). You can read their blog at birchbarkblog.blackscliffresort.com/

We went up Friday morning. But on the way Susan wanted a snack. And she wanted Bugles, Original flavor. All she could find are Nacho or spicy caramel flavor. When we checked in we had to run to Walmart. Guess what, Walmart does not carry bugles. In fact we could not find bugles any where.

I did get to check in on the house, before we had to go on another Bugles quest. All was fine. I did not see any broken pipes. All was the same as we left it. The Domek Lesny photo above is from Saturday. Hmmm kinda looks like last years.

Well here is a photo of the basement. Just in case you forgot you what it looked like.

Saturday night we went to Eagle River for dinner. www.riverstonerestaurant.com/ It was a long wait, bu well worth it. I was shocked when Susan ordered a drink and slammed it down in 2 seconds. It took me 2 days to finish my Manhatten. Once must learn to savor the flavor of their drink

We headed back Sunday. And we continued our quest for Bugles. We checked every store on the way down, nothing. Finally at a rest stop near Janesville (sorry Pam we did not stop or call) I found the original Flavored Bugles. Finally Susan completed her quest. But she immediately put them on the end of her fingers, she said they were like finger nails. Geez! everyone knows you take two Bugles and put them on your Canine teeth so they are like Vampire fangs!

Joe

Ferns

Joe Wardzala — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:50:00 GMT

I probably have posted this image before. But. It's is a photo of me, my brother and my 2 sisters, my mother is standing by the door. I was going to post this just because I have not posted in a while. But I was studying the image and noticed something. For those who have been to "Domek Lesny" you know the road side (front) of the house has ferns everywhere. The ferns are descendants of ferns from my Grandma's "Sophie" garden. We actually have the same ferns in yard at "Domek Wheeling". If you look at the image closely you will see the fern appears (to the left of us, next to the bulk head) to be freshly planted. Well that was my mother.

The photo is from "The Woods" resort, I guess around 1963 or 1964. The resort closed in 1965 and was subdivided. Domek Lesny is just south of the old resort.

When I was a kid we had a neighbor who told me that my mother used to carry my around under one arm and working on her garden. And I always told my mother when she died, we would not bury her. We would plant her. If you walk around the area of Domek, you will see my mothers ferns everywhere. So I guess we did plant her.

Joe

Happy Halloween 2008!

Joe Wardzala — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:11:00 GMT

It hard to believe it is Halloween already. It seems like just yesterday I made Susan walk through 3 to 4 feet of snow to get to the house. And it hard to believe I am done for with the interior remodel. Well mostly... This last weekend I started on phase 3! What is phase 3? I am not telling, but a hint is that I will be outside more often. The good news to Susan is that I am not making he walk through the snow!

Several people asked me to put an entry out there of before and after photos. Here we go!

And To Mom and Dad. Thanks! And see you next year.

Joe

Why did the Turkey's cross the road

Joe Wardzala — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:29:00 GMT

Fall in the Northwoods. Lots of stories. Saturday morning I was laying in the living room when I saw this big dark thing flying towards the south end of the house. Then another, and another. I got up and looked out the window to find 13 Wild Turkeys on the lawn. My camera was in the car in the garage, so I rushed to get it. But by the time I got back, they were gone. But this morning they were spotted. You can see them in the above image crossing the road. So why did they cross the road? To get away from the crazy guy with the camera.

My in-laws were up with us. Which mean I had a lot of help finishing up the basement. I am done! (for this year). Just small thins to get done, nothing major.

The highlight of the trip was Susan tking her Mom to the Oneida County Landfill. Her mother ws vey impressed on how much stuff they recycle. Basically they recycle almost everything that comes into the landfill.

Later, Joe