Thursday, March 30, 2017

Exit to No Internet Land....


We do have rabbits at our new place.  We also have cardinals visiting our spruce pine. I don't know if I can handle it but I will be off the internet soon as the new place is not hooked up to the internet.  It took us three days to get them to listen to us that we needed some service.  After getting through the hour long process to get things set up they say they can't come until Monday for a land line, internet and cable.  I asked why, as I can't believe they are so booked up to not give us a phone line.
Sooooooooo, it will be hit and miss as to me being on the blogs.  I will be working on the house to get it ready for sale while living in the other house.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Wednesday........


It has rained all day.  The leaves you see from the photo of the past shows what will be happening soon on the birch tree.  The bud debris keeps falling on the cars and sidewalks.  I see we walk it into the house as we walk the dog.


We moved major items today to the new home.  "Two men and a Truck" show up early and begin to remove all the large furniture items. I finished clearing my desk and move an aquarium while they worked.  They were such nice young men.  They had it out of the house in less than two hours.  Actually a third man showed up to help out so it went that much faster. It would be worth it to hire them to come back and take all of the boxed items if you didn't get any outside help.  Our boys will be here soon to pitch in with this endeavor.


Our old antique furniture looks good scattered through the house as it blends with the new furniture.  We have an order of furniture coming in on Friday which will help to fill in the gaps that we have right now.  We did get the painting done in the master bedroom, but we have not had the time to remove the frog painting tape.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Time for Tea........Anyone.


As I finished packing up my toy cabinet, I did make it to the bottom of the cupboard. The china set was at the very bottom with some more war soldiers.  I bought this children tea set for my wife many years ago.  It reminded me of her good china which also has pink roses on it.  The cabinet has been moved now into the "to go" grouping of furniture to me taken by the "2 men" on Wednesday.

Monday, March 27, 2017

What Is it?


I saw the archived photo and I wondered what is that photo all about.  I see now it was a former art project example that I made as an example. I have a Monet-like painting on the back cover of an old book and a more modern Kandinsky-like painting on the cover..




Books are being sent to the landfill at a rapid pace.  Different librarians have different sets of values when it comes to the weeding out of old books.  I think sometimes a good book is thrown because of its age rather than because of its value to the a reader.  I used many old books for this recycle art project.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Looking Forward......Not Back.


Where did all those other birthdays go?  It seems to have been a long journey to get to my age and yet the mind doesn't tell me that it is time to slow down. My wife gets the credit for my "Photo a Day" blog.  She has been taking behind the scene shots as we work ourselves into this new dwelling.  It has been dreary days of rain so it makes it less fun.  Some sunny days will brighten up the mood for painting and packing. It is feeling like home now even though we haven't officially owned it more than three days.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Two Geese Included........


It was to my great surprise to see that the previous owners had left their Canada Geese.  The realtor didn't say anything about it, but I know he heard me at the first viewing of the house comment on the great garden, blue spruce tree and the geese. I told him that we were gardeners.  Since they were moving to Boston, they maybe don't need them at a townhouse.  The previous owners left different things that seemed to me kind gestures from them.  There are also six or more red twig dogwood shrubs along the back fence. Fencing for around the garden also is inside a double doored shed that they left next to the patio.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Comfort Food......


My wife and I love waffles and it is something we eat when we just don't want to prepare a evening meal.  Barney really likes them as we will feed him one while we are eating them.  Leftovers are also his treat with peanut butter at certain times. We had a long day today as we took possession of our new home.  It is very overwhelming to have a full house that is empty, ready for us to put our stuff into it. We are making plans for the placement of furniture and need to paint the bedroom. We did decide that we don't like the yellow bedroom walls because it leans close to a yellow green rather than being yellow.  Another next bedroom has a cream color and when you look from the room into the yellow bedroom it does look green. Ace hardware is about a mile away from our house so we will be getting to know them better.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Skylight......



I spent time yesterday working on the skylight opening. I have the enclosure painted and it is ready for a second coat.  I have temporary wood moulding on it to help with the installing of the ceiling tile.  I will get it finished up so it will look like one is looking through a frame as they look up and out the window. The view looking up through the roof is an amazing experience.  I would like to have a room with skylights in our new home some day

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Firetruck..........


Times have changed from when the firetruck was pretty much a basic box shape with a haul from behind ladder trailer. I am guessing this is the 1930s to 1940s as to dating the toy. I bet I know someone out there has the ladders and hoses that fit on the trailer.


I couldn't resist not showing again the firetruck of our sons back in the 1980s. The ladder does extend out to help reach a fire in a tall building or to rescue a cat from a tall pole or tree.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Gathering Waterfowl........


As I emptied out my one cabinet of various collections I took a few shots of things.  The items were taken from the cupboard and brought to the living room.  I was watching television and packing them at the same time.  The process became wipe and dust, bubble wrap and then put it in the box.  I did realize that I have too many collections as I didn't get done packing the box in one round.  I have two more shelves to do yet before the cupboard is emptied.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Milk Glass......


The milk glass container joins the others that will need to be packed all in one box. Our dining room table seem to be packing central as things end up there before they get wrapped and packed  The  plates you see in the background have yet to be sorted for save, maybe and toss piles.  The more one packs the easier it becomes to throw out unnecessary pieces.  Historic pieces do get more points on the saving scale than a lot of other "odds and ends" things that have just hung around for a long time. I like how the photo captures the present event in our lives of packing

Sunday, March 19, 2017

No Leaves on the Trees


The  yellow maple tree is highlighted by the rising sun and colorful sky.  The background tree is actually the larger of the two trees as it is an old silver maple. The lilacs are budded and many things are sprouting up out of the ground. My walk with Barney this morning was brisk and cool.  It continues to look warmer than it really is. We will be up to 66 degrees F. today.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Taking a Nap.......


The neighbor's cat is always around to help. It was out there having dry cat food to eat while I was sawing up wood.  The saw was on the table.  When I finished, late afternoon, I brought the saw inside.  I looked out a few minutes later and the cat is soaking up the sun.


A nap is also in order as he works hard all day walking around peoples properties. The cat also helped the furnace guys when they were working last week.  One furnace man was concerned that they were going to harm the cat.  I told him we can just carry him over to the dog fence and sit him out and away.  He did come back but he waited for awhile to return. I was impressed that the furnace man was concerned for him.  He did sleep on the dryer down there while I was cleaning out junk from the basement the week before.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Sunny Sunshine........


Out my window shows a sun that did shine all day.  It does everyday but we were able to see it all day, cloud free. As the earth keeps tilting back moving the view of the sun to the left more each day.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Glass.......


A glass quacking duck container being readied for packing.  I picked this up in some auction box back in my younger days.  I am sure it was in southern Iowa at some farm sale. I thought maybe it would fun to sever crackers it it.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Winter Came Back....


Fresh seed was welcomed as the snow was built up on the feeder.  Pouring the seed on top of the snow isn't a bother to the doves.  There was actually a cardinal visiting the feeder yesterday but I don't have any photo evidence of the event.  They have been scarce most of the winter. I saw a killdeer out walking up an alley while walking Barney.  We never have killdeer in town like that but are out in rocky areas along the ditches of the highway. We do have melting this afternoon brought on by sunshine and not the air temperatures.  It is still close to freezing right now this afternoon.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Staying Alive..........


I let most of my hardy geraniums die off this fall.  I did save this one and it is putting out a little bet of color for March.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Monday's a White One.........



My weather rocks pretty much are covered with last nights snowfall.  A new item on the railing is a yellow tennis ball. I found it across the street.  I am not sure who it belongs to but I think my furnace guys were having some fun while loading the truck.

Looking out the gallery window the snow is covering everything.  It isn't a large amount of snow but it does look like winter again.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Chimney in Plastic......


My original old chimney is still being used for the exhaust of the gas water heater.  The new furnace is being vented through the larger plastic pipe.  It is not so pretty as you can see.

The round metal circle is the cover placed over the old chimney furnace opening.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Green and White All Over........


This is a test to see how well the aloe will do in freezing temperatures.  So far I can see that it ins't bothered by it at all.  I have so many new starts of this that I will need to get rid of some of them. We had a light snow fall last night. Sunday it is predicted to be a  heavier amount.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Heat Duct Magic........


My camera flash helped me to create this magical shot of shiny ductwork.  The area was originally the old coal room where the coal was dropped into this space for holding before it was shoveled into the furnace. The black spot in the back wall is an opening where the coal was dumped in on a chute.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Schlitz Beer...



.....it made Milwaukee famous.

Do you remember the ads for Schlitz beer?  I don't  remember much about them but only because the name is unusual. I think they advertised Schlitz on the radio. "Have a Schlitz today!!!!! The guys found them in the air return duct of the old furnace as the took it apart.  The copyright date on the can of brown beer is 1937.  It was a neat thing for them to find and was nice of the guys with the furnace company to share them and not swipe them.  I am sure they could see all the antique things I still had in the basement so they knew I would appreciate them.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Old......


Things were "touch and go" on Monday as this old furnace was as the entire old furnace system was removed from the basement. Five guys took on the task and it was all removed in two hours.  The noise was loud and the dust flew out of all of the heat vents and return vents.  I started covering up vents after the one in the dining room started to shoot out dust like an erupting volcano. I have more photos for later of this old coal fired furnace that was turned into a gas fired furnace.

The box actually had a metal tray (bread pan) that caught dripping water for the making of humidity in the air coming out of the furnace. Humidifying the air was going on back then in 1937.  I will share how I know it was 1937 that things were put in with later photos. The water line existed but was shut off years ago and the lid on the box was rusted shut.  The young adult men that took this apart I am sure were in awe that this existed.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Micro.....Mini.


When the matchbox car company ran out of ways to market their cars, they decided to make smaller ones.  Grandparents of the boys were happy to buy them as they needed something new to buy them. I think they were actually too small for a boy to have much fun with them. It is amazing how you can shrink them but they do seem to loose their proper proportions

Sunday, March 5, 2017

A Sunday Shot.......


Mighty Mo was retrieved from the basement.  It will be one of the toys taken to the new home for the grandkids to enjoy.  I had to work hard to clean it up as it was still dirty from the last time it was played with by one of the boys. That had to be probably 30 years ago.  Once I started scrubbing I was glad that I made a decision to save it. The front wheels have a geared power device that can be used to get it to roll along on its own.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Friendly Witch...


She must love cats, as you can see she has a smile on her face. The box that I discovered of old Halloween decorations revealed some less evil looking kind of decorations than the ones they promote today.


A pumpkin that is afraid of something seems to be pretty harmless as a decoration was one of the 25 year old decorations.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Old Glass Coasters........


I remember these kind of things more from my experience of seeing them at my Grandmother's house out on the farm.  The painted iron beds upstairs all had glass coasters on their legs so the bed would not wear a hole into the linoleum floors. That kind of flooring was usually decorated with a color pattern of flowers and a border sometimes around the edges. I found these three in a drawer of a cupboard that I was dismantling. I threw the cabinet into the dumpster. The drawers really were not holding much of value and it was good to just get rid of the unneeded piece of furniture in the basement.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Scary Masks.......


While cleaning out the basement I came across a box that probably hasn't been opened for 25 years or more.  The boys are now 38 and  41 years of age. I found all sort of decorations for halloween and all of it is now gone to the dumpster.  It was a pleasant surprise.

Blurry Blue Cup Day.....

 It is Monday and I am a little blurry eyed today. It is fitting then my blue cup is blurred a little because it is in low light. I was too ...