Perception

What do you see?

Apple Festival

Putting apples into the cider press


chopped apples

adding another layer of apples

beginning to press the cider from the apples

an hour later they were almost completely pressed

making apple butter

cooking three different kinds of soup: chicken noodle, ham & bean, and vegetable

snitz & knepp

Joanna Furnace stoves

There is Life After 50

When Mary's niece delivered this to me this morning, I thought, "Oh! that's nice--a carved watermelon.

But, then, I lit the candle and stepped away from it. That was when I saw the carving is a balloon.

Camping at Little Buffalo State Park

This weekend we were camping at Little Buffalo State Park. There were about 15 people coming and going all weekend. Most of us went on Friday evening and set up camp in the rain. We were thoroughly soaked by the time the tents were set up and we were moved in for the weekend. Fortunately, we had also rented a cottage for those who are not tenters. After we were set up, we had supper and played a few games in the cottage before the rest of us headed back to our wet tents.

On the left is the Hilton Hotel and on the right is the LaQuinta. The Ramada Inn isn't visible on this picture.

Saturday morning we were delighted to see the blue sky and sunshine. It was still very wet, but we at least had some sunshine. We did a little hiking in the morning. Visited the covered bridge, the mill, and the butterfly garden.

I missed out on Saturday afternoon and evening while I attended a 20-year reunion of the first classes at school. When I returned I took another lady with me; several others had come while I was gone too. They had had rain off and on all day and it was still wet but not too bad.

Sunday morning we were responsible for breakfast. We fried our eggs; Norma reminded us we had hashbrowns; we fried those. Norma reminded us we had sausages and ham; we fried those. Eventually, we got breakfast together.

After breakfast we had a devotional and then packed up. It was so hot and humid that we were not eager to do any hiking today so we all headed home much earlier than we thought we would.

Renovation Progress Report #8 -- The LAST One

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!!

All I can say is "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to the renovation of our office. It is the area where we spend most of our time when we are home. We use it for the print shop and my school work. Most of what we do here on a regular basis is in the office. I say "thank you" because of the generosity of family and friends who made the renovation possible. For the last two or three years, we have been saving all the money we received as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, graduation, and any other occasion. That money made possible the purchase of all the supplies we needed for the walls, floor, and ceiling, electrical wiring we added, and the new cabinet to house the phaser and xante printers. Again, I say "thank you" to all of you who gave us any money gifts in the last two or three years.

This last update on the renovation has four photos--one of each wall of the office. The project is almost finished. There is a little trim work to be done. One wall we have to decide if we are going to paint or paper. Other than that, it is finished and we are moved in. We really like it and will enjoy many hours in here this winter.

Our desk area is much more organized.

I already have papers to grade spread out on my desk. The cabinet houses the phaser and xante printers and lots of supplies that we stashed on the table before the renovation.

We didn't do much to this little wall. It was done before we moved here.

The wall on the left of the photo is the one that needs to be either painted or papered. It is bare drywall at this point.

Renovation Progress Report #7 -- Hanna Moves Over/We Move In

As Tropical Storm Hanna passes through the area, we were continuing the process of moving back into the office. Mary is modifying a new cabinet we bought to keep the phaser printer and xante film maker clean. I have gone through all the little "stuff" scattered around the rest of the basement deciding what goes back into the office and what shall be disposed of promptly.

2 weeks ago . . .

2 days ago . . .

Now . . .

It is good I posted photos of the room without furniture. Most of the walls are hidden now.

Renovation Progress Report #6 -- Moving In--Ready or Not

Progress was slow Tuesday and Wednesday. We did a little each evening, but it was not anything significant. Thursday Mary was sent home from work so she had more time to do some of the finish work.

Last evening we started moving back into the office. She went off to see if they have work for her today at the other place where she works sometimes. She will find out when she gets there if they have work for her today. If not, she will go back home and continue moving into the new office.

Renovation Progress Report #5 -- Hanging the Sky

We quit for the weekend! Hanging the ceiling has been quite a challenge, and we are tired. We will work at the project in the evenings this week and maybe by next Monday we will be able to move back into the office. We are satisfied with what we got done this weekend. I think we both knew we had set our goals too high to move back in tonight.

Fastening the first sheet of the ceiling

This is what the ceiling looks like when you look straight up.

Mary's Dad and Elma stopped in for a while. They didn't know they were going to have to work if they came this weekend. Mary had built a frame to hold each sheet of ceiling up and flat while we fastened it. Her Dad helped to hold the sheet up while we aligned it and fastened it.

We have one more big sheet of ceiling to put up and then one foot pieces along the one side. After that is finished, we will put the trim on the top of the walls, put the carpet in and add the trim to the bottom of the walls. Then, I think, it will be ready to move back into again.

Renovation Progress Report #4 -- Finishing the Wall and Preparing to Hang the Sky

It doesn't look like much has happened, but it has. The room is completely empty now. We are just about ready to hang the ceiling. Mary has started on the trim.

Mary places the last piece of t&g on the wall.

Carol fastens 2x4s in preparation for hanging the ceiling.

Two walls of the office

The other office wall and the short wall to the dark room

Renovation Progress Report #3 --More Walls, Measuring the Sky, and Soup

Did I say at 8 PM last night that we would wind down in an hour or so? It was more like three hours or so.


It is almost 8 PM and Mary is putting the last few boards on the last wall. We had enough wood to finish and a few boards left over. Today we bought a new carpet for the office and I put scotch guard on it. I have done the beginning preparation for the unconventional ceiling we are planning to use. Photos of the ceiling will be in a later update. I cut 2x4s to hang the ceiling from until we ran out. Another trip to Lowes...




The wall is not as bowed as it looks on this photo. It must have been the angle I took it that made it look like that.



Also the 21 pints and 14 quarts of tomato soup are canned. I did some in pints and some in quarts because Jan has yet to decide if she likes our tomato soup. If we continue making it when she is not here, a pint is enough, but if she is going to eat some of it, we need a bit more than a pint.