I thought I could do it......

We woke up this morning to a few inches of snow.  Not much in the scheme of things.  I was scheduled to work today so I told Lyn that I would drive down our driveway and if the roads were plowed, I'd go into work, otherwise I would come on back home.

It is a beautiful day today.  I am from Wisconsin.  Really, I can handle this little bit of precipitation.

The sky is blue, the snow is white, the sun is shining - just gorgeous!

So I made it down our driveway.  Whew!  Drove out onto the street only to find it was not plowed.  There was no way my little car was going to make it up and down all the hills into town today.  I turned around and made it about a third of the way up our driveway, the incline was too much.  I decided to try to drive the car - backwards - to the bottom of the driveway and leave it down there for the day.

As I rounded one of the bends I started to slide, and then I got stuck, but good.  I know better than to horse around with it myself.  I needed my husband's wisdom and guidance.

I walked back up the driveway, told the story to my dear husband.  I changed my clothes and we got on the tractor

and headed down the driveway.

To where our car was stuck in the snow

Lyn towed it out with the tractor 

and then backed the car back down the hill

We parked the car at the bottom of the driveway because there is no going up the hill today.

Lyn & I walked back up the driveway to where the tractor was parked

and this is where I will be spending the rest of my day.  In the house, with a cup of tea, a fire in the fireplace and a beautiful view to look at.

Love you all, hope your having a great day!

Ingy Bink

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