Christmas 2011

We were fortunate to be able to do a little pre-Christmas with Felicia and Sam and Ruby in Philadelphia in early December.










Rusty and I attended the children's Mass at North American Martyrs on Christmas Eve.  Then we attended the Festival of the Carols, circa 1918 at First Plymouth.

Rusty's daughters and SOs and granddaughter Celeste were here for brunch on Christmas Morning.

 

After brunch, Rusty and I drove to KC and had a lovely dinner and evening with Olivia, Chad, Pierce and Reece.

Ready for Christmas

The past couple of weeks have been really busy around here.  We've strung lights on the front of the house and also on the deck in back.
Of course, we had to put up a tree.

I had hoped that the tree would cover all of the front window, but alas, we find ourselves still quite visible as we walk around the house.  I hope to get drapes made, but not until after Christmas.

It was fun finding all new places for the Christmas decorations.  Good thing I got rid of many things before we moved.

Christmas plates are a must for me during the holiday season.

Tonight we lit the last of the candles in the Advent Wreath.  For those of you who are more observant, you'll see 3 pink candles and one purple candle.  I got it backwards this year!  Oh well.  It's the thought that counts, right?

While Rusty was busy playing "The Nutcracker" I was enjoying Christmas Tea with my good friends.  This year we took a limo ride after the tea to enjoy the Christmas lights around town.

Finally, a Shaving Horse

Rusty has had plans to build a shaving horse for a long time.  He started the project in the middle of the summer.  Then it was preempted by packing and moving and unpacking and other more immediate projects.  Now he finally has a completed shaving horse!

In this picture, Rusty uses the back side to shave a board to make it perfectly flat.

In this more traditional use, the shaving horse clamps and stabilizes the wood so that Rusty can use a spoke shave or draw knife to shape the surface.  Typical usage of the shaving horse is to create a round profile along a square piece, like the leg of a chair, the spoke of a wheel, or even the handle of a paddle.

Any craftsman quickly develops a supply of material that needs to be stored.  This is the wood storage box Rusty built for all the lumber waiting to be used in future projects.  It has casters that enable it to easily slide under the canoe rack.

Dinner on a cold Night.

A couple of weeks ago we had a cold snap, so I decided to try my hand at homemade chicken pot pie.  It was a childhood favorite for both Rusty and me.  Add a little salad and wine, and it's a great meal!

The area around our house

We live on the northern edge of Lincoln.  We see deer in the field behind us, as well as pheasant and turkey.
Alvo Road is just north of us.  Here is a pic looking north over the newly harvested bean and corn fields.

This pic is looking south towards our house.

November 2011

It's been 3 months since we've moved in and there have been some improvements that make our house look more like home.
Rusty built each of us a shoe rack in the closet.  I'm so excited to have all my shoes where I can find them!

I have quite a few belts that usually end up in a big pile.  Rusty made this belt rack that hangs behind my jeans.

We ordered blinds for the dining room and they arrived just last week.  I'm very pleased with how they look.

The blinds allow us to enjoy the view outside and yet can be adjusted to filter the bright morning sun.

I just completed the bed skirt and curtains in our bedroom.  Thanks to Dar, Tom and Mom for the beautiful coverlet!

Every day that the sun shines, we enjoy the view in the back of our house.  On the day this picture was taken, the sun was brilliant and the wind was wailing.

This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful rising moon, but it could easily be seen above the streetlights out the back window.

Red Bud Planting

Early Friday morning, Rusty started digging a hole for his new tree.  This tree was a birthday present to Rusty, from me.

Eventually, the digging gets up close and personal.

Grow little Red Bud, Grow!

Working on the Workshop

The tandem bay of our garage is a great place to store canoes, but it is also Rusty's workshop.  He's already begun the process.

Rusty insulated the back wall and is measuring for pegboard.

Rusty uses the big table saw to cut the pegboard to size.  I started painting the interior garage walls.

Our home looks so much better with sod.

Welcome!  We're ready for visitors!

So many jobs to do! MAILBOX Installation.

Now that the furniture has arrived, this place feels much more like home.  Predictably, there are many, many boxes yet to unload.  Even though we thought we were being very careful in labeling our boxes, we still are searching daily for things we need.

Like any new home, there are lots of things that need to be done.  Rusty is such a trooper!!!!  The first day he built a rack and hung 3 canoes in the garage.  The second day he hooked up the washer and dryer so that I could do laundry.  The third day he assembled our desks before the cable guy arrived so that we could be connected. 

 And Rusty has done so many other things.  He's organizing the garage and the basement, no small task there.  He tacked sheets to the bedroom and bathroom windows so that we could have some privacy.  He also did a fine sanding on the built-in cutting board so that it would be more to our liking.  He hung a hook in the bathroom next to the shower for our towels.  And now I need him to install the paper towel rack.  Oh yea, and the microwave shelf needs to be installed.

Today he is installing the mailbox.

The temperatures today are in the 90's and the dew point is way up there.  This picture is foggy because my camera can't deal with the humidity.

Installing a simple mailbox is more complex than you might imagine.  First you have to cut the cedar post to the required length.  None of our saws are deep enough to cut a 4 x 4 post.

Some of the scrap cedar post is used to pound the base into the ground.  Of course it doesn't fit into the base, so it had to be "downsized" in order to fit.

Once the scrap piece is fitted into the base, it has to be pounded into the rock-hard dirt.  The ground did not yield, and eventually the scrap piece splintered into smithereens.  Rusty had to drill a hole in order to pry it out and then use a second scrap piece.  Then he applied ample water to the ground in order to get the base securely into the ground.  Remember, this is the day when it's over 90 degrees and the dew point is off the charts.  My ears hurt from the pounding.  I can't imagine what his shoulders and arms must have felt like.

Rusty measures to make sure we are compliant with postal regulations.  (Notice the storm blowing in.)

I think we are in for nasty weather tonight!

Moving Day

Gene was AWESOME!

And so was Nick.  These guy were still running after 8 hours of moving.

Chet's is a local moving company.  They are incredibly awesome.  No broken furniture.  No holes in the wall.  Pleasant to work with and VERY reasonable.  If you live near Lincoln, this is definitely the company to hire.

We have closed on our house and now camping in our new home.

After closing on our new home, we were determined to live in it, even if it had no furniture.  We dined on a box and slept on the floor.  But it was our new HOME!!!

Who cares if it's HyVee carry out!

We sat on the deck and celebrated with a bottle of champagne.

And we watched the full moon rise in the eastern sky!