Wednesday, 17 May 2017: Little Suamico, WI

The boat is in the water!  "Boats In" might have officially been on Saturday, but today was the day for us.  Justin has been sanding and painting and sanding and painting.  I have made all kinds of new friends with my frequent trips to Menards for supplies and equipment as we are working on the house.  Within the last week, Patty at Skipper's Choice has been added to my list of new BFFs.  Sam, yellow lab also at Skippers' Choice, and Gemma have had several play dates when I stop by there to pick up more paint or specialty supplies.

The crane was at Windjammers Sailing Club on Saturday, but knowing that the straps would mark our fresh paint, we opted to go for a launch from the trailer.  Tom Piarquet volunteered his truck and his expertise.  We had planned for a later Saturday afternoon launch but the weather picked up and even thought the water was high, the wind was working against us.  On Wednesday morning Jordan was there with his truck and rescue chain at the ready should Tom get in trouble.  Ric and Carolyn came out to document the event and thankfully, Dave Gay was there to provide moral support and commentary throughout.

We head across the harbor to our slip

Since the carburetor went out for repair a couple of weeks ago, getting from the ramp to our slip under power was not an option.    Jordan and I hopped across boats running a line across the docks so once afloat we could jockey the boat into position.

Basically,the weather cooperated and event went without a hitch.

 

 



Justin and I pause to breathe after a successful launch

Tuesday, 2 May 2017: Brussels

Now we need a new hot water heater.  Seems like every time we turn around, we have yet another hurdle.  It is true what they say about fixer-uppers.  More things go wrong... everything takes twice as long as you expect and it costs twice as much as you budget.  

In talking to Jordan, he remarked that there was nothing sexy about a water heater.  I'm applying that litmus test to all our challenges.  Sexy?  Not sexy? 

Note the large red warning tag from the gas company

New driveway?  not sexy  When our household goods were delivered in November, the guy got stuck.  Justin chalked it up to not knowing how to drive in Wisconsin but when the local guy from the gas company got stuck when trying to switch out the propane tank ...

New frig?  sexy

New range?  sexy; may need to wait until next year

Washer and dryer?  very sexy but with our awful water I'll be going to the laundromat every two weeks or so

New bamboo floors?  Very sexy

Step one on painting paneling in bedroom

 

Justin works on vanity cabinets in bathroom

Sunday, 16 April 2017: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Easter Sunday!  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!
It was one year ago today when we announced that I would retire.  We were at brunch at Dave and Susan's when we first shared our news.  My oh my, what a year!

Justin surveys progress on the new driveway

We are settling into being locals here in Brusssels.  We made all kinds of new friends with the guys from Lakes Gas and Wulf Brothers when we got our furnace repaired and the new propane tank installed.  JJ's excavation put in our new driveway and the good folks from Marchants, the local grocery store are just as nice as can be.  Marchants is a cross between Trader Joes and a 1950's corner store.  Their meat counter is fabulous.  They slaughter and butcher their own meat.  Their selection on most items is adequate -- who needs fourteen different brands of quart sized baggies anyway?   They have meat.  They have wine.  They have cheese.  All is good.

We had a ham last week so I wasn;t really interested in ham for Easter dinner so we had shrimp and grits.  No, it isn't really a traditional menu, but it sure was good, IMHO.

Gemma had a special Easter dinner too
and she doesn't even mind the
orange shag carpet.

Tuesday, 11 April: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Today was a banner bay.  Our new refrigerator was delivered, our telephone was connected and we now have internet!

Justin started a fire this morning that made the inside of our house nice and toasty.  I worked in our bedroom sorting clothes and beginning to set up an office area while Justin surveyed the property, continued cleaning and clearing and planning.  He has all kinds of plans for ponds and clearings and a lot less grass.  

Shopping for the frig became quite the challenge.  The freezing compartment of the unit we inherited worked well.  Within a few days of connecting electricity, I realized that the freezer was not "frost free", and although not ideal, because the refrigerator section worked almost reasonable well, we felt we could focus on other needs.  We limped along for a week or so looking at fridges and shopping a bit until the refrigerator decided it had had enough.  Quite immediately a new frig became a hot priority.  Well, guess what, they don't make fridges to fit our size constraints any more...anywhere.  We looked at every frig in Green Bay.  We looked all over Craigslist, at wholesale vendors and at the local reconditioned appliance stores to no avail.  Shopping is usually very enjoyable for me and Justin is usually accommodating (I think he actually enjoys it too most often).  We'd given up cabinet space to open up the view of the bay and we couldn't give up any more storage space for a frig.  We found a Frigidaire at Menards and it was delivered today!  The only question now is will the cheese drawer be large enough for this boy from Wisconsin?

New frig almost in place.  I am getting used to open cabinets!

Justin painted this evening (our kitchen cabinets are now white) while I hooked up our internet.  It seems we can receive calls but not place outgoing calls.  I'll get on that in the morning.  I'll also pay our gas bill and sort out the communication with our mail lady, Angela.  Justin got our mail box mounted and today was the first day we received mail at our new address.  Dellene will still be our "mail service" when we are on the road, but for now, we are really official...at least with USPS.

Jeff from JJ Excavation dropped off the skidster and he will start on the driveway early tomorrow morning.  We have been borrowing Jordan's truck partly because of the mud but also since we have so much crap to haul away and then all of our treasures from the storage unit need to find there way here too once we are ready.  Justin has been spending time in the garage getting organized.  He will place and mount some of the cabinets we took out of the dining room into the garage but first he has to make space.  Monday we discarded about thirty tires and a handful of rims as well as a half dozen lawn chairs.  We are finding a treasure or two here and there (the previous owners left a wooden box he had built years ago for his mom to store firewood) but we are also finding lots of junk that needs to be carted away.

Saturday, 8 April 2017: Green Bay

Erich and Holly came to visit earlier this week and we got to meet Finn.  Finn was born four month ago but this was our first chance to meet him.  Justin saw Brody when he visited Green Bay last year, but the only time I had seen Brody before was when he was born.  He is quite the bruiser now and, as expected, Lilly stole the show.  Holly had the day off so it was a perfect opportunity for us all to get together.

 

 

 

Today we celebrated Caleb's fifth birthday.  Justin gave him a ukulele.  It seemed to go over well. 

It is still stinking cold outside.  Justin swears that we will never come back this early again.

Sunday, 2 April 2017: Green Bay

We met Willow today when we joined Jordan and his family for brunch.

Ms. Willow Rae was born on 30 March.  She is Justin's seventh grandchild which means she is my 7th grandchild too!

Kris and Jordan went to a Journey concert last week on Thursday.  They had been wary with purchasing tickets but Kris was convinced she'd be able to make the performance. 

Saturday, 1 April 2017: Brussels

 

Taken from the kitchen when the wall was intact.

It might be April Fools Day for some, but there is no joking in the work Justin and I have ahead.  We weren't in our house more than 24 hours before Justin was taking down walls.  We've talked about this and planned for the past several months and now it is time to get to work.

View from living room with wall in place.

We lost some cabinet space in the kitchen but the commanding view to the water is now the focal point.  I felt like I was in jail standing at the sink for those little bars came down pretty fast too.  

Even less wall.  Lots more view!

Outside it is still winter.  Ice in the bay is melting and the ice shifts change dramatically with each day.  Erich gave us a bird feeder and given that there is precious little out there to munch on, the squirrels are getting their treats too. 





Monday, 27 March 2017: Green Bay, Wisconsin

We spent three days in Houston with Harold and Charlsy.  We got to see Hal and William too; Chami was in Thailand visiting her family.

Uncle Harold took us out on the boat in Galveston Bay.  Our day included a great lunch at Fisherman's Wharf.  As many times as I've been to Galveston I am always amazed at how different the sights look from the water compared to the view from land.

Next was two nights with Cousin Terry in Broussard, Louisiana.  Terry was my mother's favorite cousin.  We had a great visit and it was fun to show Justin "the homestead" property.

When we were in Austin Dellene made gumbo.  In Alvin, Charlsy made Shrimp Court Boullion and, here in Cajun country, Terry made crayfish etoufee.  We sure did take advantage of local cuisine.  We even were in the right place at the right time to take advantage of local strawberries.  We stopped for lunch in Ponchatula, Louisiana to meet with Dan Woods for lunch at the local diner.  Dan owns the property in Celestun that we might be interested in buying.  We met him for lunch to chat and to set up a situation where we have first rights of refusal.  We walked all around the beach front property when we were there this winter and we will want to wait until next fall when return to Celestun and can actually get inside the house before we make a decision.  Dan was an art professor in New Orleans before retirement.  He and Justin had an immediate connection since he too is from the Midwest. 

On to Green Bay.  We spent the night in Marion, Illinois where the grass was just turning green and there were signs of spring.  We drove on into Green Bay on Monday, 27 March where there were mounds of this strange white/gray stuff in the parking lots all around town.  We visited our house and turned on the heat.  We'll get the water, etc going tomorrow.  We left Green Bay on 30 November 2016.  Four months and about 10,000 miles later, we checked into a hotel  perhaps the last night for a while.

 

Monday, 20 March 2017: Austin

During our time in Austin we made sure we caught up with friends -- breakfast with Betsy, lunch with Lisa and Allen.  One special treat was dinner with Kim and Harper and Luke,  After a mouth-watering dinner of Bill Miller's BBQ, Justin was on Battleship duty with Luke. 

We also took time for doctor's appointments and pedicures but bluebonnets stayed at the top of the hit parade.  We saw more of the blooms as we ventured out on country roads.  On Saturday, Dellene took us to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center where we enjoyed dozens of types of wildflowers and other native plants in natural landscapes.  Since this trip was "all about the bluebonnets", this was a perfect stop.

Sunday morning found us at a local venue for Bloody Mary Brunch -- now that is the way to start the day!  Grilled steaks for dinner seem to be a tradition for Don and Dellene and Justin and I were just fine with joining in for good Texas beef.

Springtime means Rodeo in Texas and we were in Austin just in time to see Luke try his hand at mutton bustin'.  Clearly, the little guy has the hands of an intellectual as his three second of fame came to an end all too soon.  Thankfully he was smiling by the time he made his way back to mom and sis.