Ant Damage Part 3 - The Finale'

It was three days of hard work, some discussing of the right way to make sure the railings stand up properly and voila', the front porch is completely done!  

This is how the porch looked after all the concrete work was done

We put on the stringers

When all the stringers were on we (meaning Lyn) nailed on the treads for the stairs.

We started making the railings for the left side ,

 

Please note my shadow on the left - I think I need photography help!

and then we worked on the right side 

 

and then we were done!

We think we did a pretty good job considering neither one of us is a carpenter and we NEVER did anything like this before.  The treated lumber has to "weather" for a few  months, and then we will stain it to match the house.

Well friends, that is the saga of the Ant Damage. 



 

Thanksgiving

I'm going to try to write without getting too sappy or emo.  It will be quite a challenge since one of our daughters just sent me a text saying she missed me.  Needless to say I am a puddle.  Hang in there with me and I'll try to keep it together.


I am so very thankful. Thankful for a warm house......

                                                           
                                           ...... thankful for food on the table and in our tummies.

Thankful for my husband who has continually surprised me this year (in a good way xoxo). 

Thankful for our daughters who are beautiful inside and out and so very loved. 

Thankful for our son in laws all of whom I respect and love. 

Thankful for our grandsons, who I love so, so very much.  They bring joy to my heart.  Thankful for the grandbaby that will be born in the New Year, I can't wait to meet you!

Thankful for family and friends that have made our life so much fuller because of who they are.

Thankful that God loves me and has never given up on me.

Happy Thanksgiving!  May God's joy be with you as you celebrate today!

Whew! I made it!!  =)

Ant Damage...... Part Two

We are slowly working on repairing the rest of the Ant Damage.  We cut the concrete forms to the proper length, did some more digging and put the forms in place under the logs to hold the concrete.  Lyn decided that we need to have two separate fills to help maintain the support of the structure.

The first time the concrete man came was uber exciting!  We could hear his truck long before we saw him coming around the driveway.  He filled two of the forms. 

He then asked where he could pour the rest of the concrete we ordered.  We had created a form where we want to keep wood for the winter, and asked Mr. Concrete Man to pour the rest of the cement there. 

He started to pour the rest of the concrete and kept pouring and pouring and pouring until the slab was not only filled but overflowing.  When he got out of his truck, I mentioned that we must have seriously underestimated how much a yard of concrete was because we didn't expect so much.  Mr. Concrete Man just smirked a little bit and said we were the end of his day so he dumped whatever was left in the truck onto our slab area.

It was a lot of work to smooth out the concrete.  I kid you not.

The second time Mr. Concrete Man came, we were ready.  Not only for the concrete to fill the last form and the small slab for the stringers to sit on, but we also made room for any extra concrete he might have.

Of course the second time Mr. Concrete Man came was opposite day. This time he did not have enough concrete.  He filled the form and then most of the slab for the stringers to sit on.  His recommendation was to fill the concrete slab with more rocks before it set to bring it up to the right height.

 

I went rock picking while Lyn was smoothing out the concrete.  I picked a ton of rocks to add to the slab. It took a while but we finally had the concrete at the right height.

Everything is set and now we are ready to get the lumber for the stringers and make the steps leading up into the house.  It's looking pretty good!

My song was silent....

When I was 4 or 5 years old I remember climbing the oak tree near the cottage my parents have up north.  I sat up in the old oak tree singing the songs I learned in Sunday School for all I was worth.  The neighbor lady came by later that day and told my Mom that one day I would sing for Jesus.

Then one Sunday I was singing in the backseat of the car while my family was on the way home from Church, I must have been around 10 years old.  My brother turned and looked at me, said "Ingrid, God made canaries and God made crows, you are not sounding like a canary." 

I have always taken those two comments and accepted the fact that I am an ordinary singer.  I would never make it past the try outs on American Idol unless a) my voice had a very good day and fooled the judges or b) I was so comical they wanted to keep me around for ratings.

Music has always been a part of my life.  I like to play it loud.  I like to sing along with it.  I like to play music and sing when I work around the house.  I like to play music quietly and reflect.  I would wake my children up in the morning by singing to them!

Imagine my surprise when one day last fall, I was getting ready to go to work and realized that I had no desire to sing.  Not one.  I couldn't remember the last time I sung or even hummed a song.  I couldn't even think of the words to a song that I would want to sing.  I thought, I'll just play music on my way into work and then I'll start singing.  I turned the music on in my car and it gave me a headache.  I couldn't figure it out.  Why had I lost my desire to sing? 

I started bringing my ear buds to work and listening to music during the workday in the hopes of so ingraining music into my being that I couldn't help but sing.  It didn't work, and I couldn't figure out what had happened.

Life moved on, we sold our house said so long - see you soon to family and good friends, bought our home in Missouri and moved far, far away.

Imagine my surprise again when one day towards the end of summer, I was outside doing yard work and I began to hum.  I caught myself, I could barely contain the joy that settled inside of me, and I began to sing.  I sang while I used the weed eater.  I sang while I sprayed weeds growing in the driveway.  I hummed while doing the dishes.  My song was back!

I don't know why I lost my desire to sing, I tried figuring it out, but nothing really made sense to me, I only know that I am glad it has returned.

I said,"Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Psalm 77:6

Ant Damage......

When Lyn & I moved to Missouri we purchased a log home to live in.  We didn't know what we were in for.  Our first clue that we were clueless was when Lyn called his brother.  His brother also owns a log home and his response was, "Why did you do that?"  Our second clue was when we shopped for insurance on the home, not all insurance companies will insure a log home, they call it an unique structure.  Who knew?  Not us!

Not long after we moved in, Lyn found some ant damage on not just one but all three of the logs holding up the front porch.

As you can see the log really wasn't holding up the front porch, the ants had eaten away the entire bottom portion of the support.  Lyn and Kevin dug up all the dirt from around the three logs that hold up the upper level.  Lyn cut off the infected part of the log.

 We braced the logs up with jacks and blocks and wood.  Lyn took the stairs and stringers off the porch.

It's a work in progress.  We went into the BIG city =) (Springfield) to pick up the concrete forms for pouring the foundation.  We had a crazy drive home using the back roads.  That's me in the front seat holding one of the forms.

We're getting ready to dig out the front lawn to pour a pad for the steps.  We might as well have the concrete truck pour as much concrete as we want while we have it here.  Life is an adventure sometimes more adventure than you bargained for, the good news is we are enjoying the journey!

Jefferson City

We went to Jefferson City last week.  Lyn had a class to take and I went along to look at the Capitol of Missouri and play tourist.  Something I have done very little of all by me self.

I took a casual glance at google maps the night before, and decided I would try to make my way downtown without any other kind of help.  It worked, I navigated to the Capitol all by my self.

The Capitol Building is gorgeous

I walked through the quiet halls, lights were on in the offices, my footsteps echoing against marble floors, at least I think they were marble ;)  There's a kind of museum on the first floor. 

The best part was looking at the painted ceilings, the windows, the architecture. 

 

There are gardens surrounding the exterior of the building, and a cute little shopping district that surrounds the square.  I did get lost leaving downtown.  I finally gave up and put the GPS on, only to find out I was going in the way wrong direction.  So thankful for technology!

I spent the rest of the day at the Capitol Mall, yup that's right a shopping mall.  Found a few sales and made a few purchases.  It was a good day.

This Wisconsin native is having a good time dipping her toes into the state she's been transplanted to.

Ingrid



Today

Today I am thankful that I live in the United States of America.  Today I am thankful that our children, their spouses and our grandchildren are safe.  Today I am thankful that our siblings and parents are safe.

Today I grieve for Syria.  I grieve for the loss of life.  I grieve with the living for their loved ones that no longer are.

Today I wonder how long, how long before God steps into the blue sky and says enough. Today I look towards the blessed hope.

 

Way out in the sticks

We live way out in the sticks.  I guess it's really not that far.  We're only 20 some miles from the nearest town.  The miles are what is fondly referred to as "hill miles".  A hill mile takes longer than a straight mile, mostly because there are curves 

and inclines and more curves 

 

an a couple of STEEP inclines thrown in.

There is a beautiful creek.....

something that is called a soft shoulder.

What the sign really means is there is NO SHOULDER ahead.

To make things extra interesting there is a half mile of gravel country road that leads up to our home.

  (keyword Up).  

The drive into town is one of the new things in my life that I am getting used to.

This past week was the first time we drove from "town" back to our house in the dark.  There was a women's event at James River that I wanted to attend, but I (the coward that I am) did not want to drive back home in the dark, alone.  I mentioned to Lyn that I'd like to go to the event and then dangled our grandson in front of his heart.  I said "You know, if you dropped me off you could go hang out with Ki."

If Lyn saw through me taking advantage of him, he never said a word. He just agreed to drop me off and pick me up and drive home in the dark!  That man sure does love me a ton a much!

It was an uneventful drive home.  It was dark, there were curves and steep inclines and winding roads that my husband navigated just perfectly.  It was a beautiful night.  The stars were out and the sky looked just beautiful.  I think I can manage it, maybe, one day on my own.

Living the country life, down the winding road, up the steep incline and off to the left - Ingrid

Only 5 boxes left to unpack.......

It's just over a month since we moved to Missouri.  The actual moving part went quickly it's the unpacking that has taken time.  I keep asking myself, why didn't I get rid of that in Wisconsin?  Why did I think that was so important that I needed to move it?  It's not just me, my husband - Lyn is asking the very same questions.  What was so important that I couldn't get rid of this?  These questions just lead us to the local Goodwill to donate the items we couldn't let go of.  I keep telling myself - No More Clutter.  Check back with me in 10 years and we will see how I am doing.

Now about our new place.  My friend Deb was right, she warned us about the night and the quiet.  It gets really dark out in the country and I DO need nightlights (Lyn laughs at me about this).  The quiet is also deafening.  There is no traffic noise whatsoever.  I am getting used to having a farmer for a neighbor, this means waking up to cows mooing or roosters crowing depending which sound hits my waking consciousness first.

My favorite view from our house is overlooking the Ozark Mountains.  I can't wait to see what happens in the fall.

We have inheirited a dog with our new place.  His name is Bennet.  He actually lives down the road.  He comes up to our house for breakfast and to lay around on our front porch.  This really is the best way to have a dog.  No responsibility. No picking up afterwards.  Just a head to pet.  In repayment he semi-protects our house.  

We've found some snakes around the property.  So far the count is snake's 2, Gunther's 4. My husband thought it would be funny to place this snake on the garage floor for me to find.  It worked, it scared the bejeebers out of me.

Fake Snakes.  It's still there, in the garage, my daughters tell me I should cut its head off.

This friendly turtle came to visit us.  We've also had a few lizards which are interesting to me, having never really been in an area where they live. 

If you look very carefully inbetween the spindles there are two deer in the meadow.

So far we are enjoying the country life, and we're about ready to start Lyn's business.  That's a whole nother story.  I'll keep you in the loop.

It's difficult coming up with a name for your blog in today's world.....

I’ll bet your wondering about the name of my blog…..I was at a Women’s event and there was a hair and make-up demonstration.    The stylist was applying make-up to a model’s face.  She was putting a shimmery/glittery substance around the model’s eyes.  As she applied the make-up she was talking, giving advice and this is where I got the title for my blog.   She said, (to the best of my memory) “Women with, um (she was searching for just the right word here) MATURE SKIN shouldn’t use anything with glitter in it because it gets stuck in the crevices of the skin.”  

Oh my goodness.  I have mature skin.  I really do.  The skin is there, I don’t know how I got it.  When I think of my skin it is soft and smooth dare I say supple, so it comes as a bit of a surprise when looking in the mirror that I come to the realization that this is a woman who should not use products with glitter in them.

Fast Forward to the next day…. I am putting away the table decorations from the table my daughter’s and I hosted.  There happened to be some glittery ornaments.  One of those crazy ornaments had a wild mind of its own.  It did not want to be placed in the box.  I grabbed it gently not wanting to get glitter on my fingers, and it popped out of my grasp, jumped up and hit me in the face.

I really didn’t think much more about it until I started to get ready for church.  Looking in the mirror, right above my eye was a big smear of glitter.  I just learned that glitter was a big huge no-no for mature skin!  I used a dry rag to try and brush it off my face.  Yeah - that did not work.  I made the wash rag wet, that did not work.  I tried covering it up with make-up, that did not work.  Nothing was working; everything I tried spread the glitter further around my face and into the crevices of my skin.  I ended up going to church with glitter in my makeup on my Mature Skin.

Welcome to my blog!