Evolution of Loon Lake Lodge

Christmas at Loon Lake Lodge 2010

2010-12-27T18:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas at Loon Lake Lodge was a grand weekend. Mother nature gave us a wonderful white Christmas without nasty roads and weather for traveling. Temps were mild enough on Friday to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the snow and ice. Poppy and Mike started with the sleds and the hill from the road to the side yard, which seemed HUGE to Elizabeth and Kate. You can see they were pretty excited.

The real fun began when Mama (AKA Amanda) who is 6 months prego with baby brother came out for some photos and to watch first hand why all the screeches and screams were coming from outside. Not to be outdone by Daddy Mike who made the slide, she grabbed the sled and took a run much to the delight of Libbers & Katers.

Friday night we picked up GG and all headed to the Christmas eve candle light service for some singing and worship. We came home to a delicious pot of creamy chicken & wild rice soup and biscuits. After donning their special new matching pj's, the girls were soon tucked in and fast asleep while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. The adults quickly brought out all the packages and set them out around the tree and stuffed the socks to the brim.

Here are the girlies still dressed in their Christmas fancy after church and awaiting their special pj's.

Christmas morning arrived right on time (well, a bit too early for the adults) but we were all soon up and rearing to go. Here Jillian is the first to dig into her stocking for all the goodies Mommy & Daddy put inside.

Grandmommy had been a very busy knitter this fall and each girl received felted clog slippers and reversible stocking caps. Here Katers gives hugs & kisses for her new slippers.

Here Libbers & Katers both don their new warm stocking caps, which can reverse to a different color scheme and stripe.

Christmas afternoon brought more fun outside. The sun was out making it a wonderful day for the ice. Poppy had cleared off a large "rink" out front and we borrowed a tiny pair of double runner ice skates, which Elizabeth was very eager to try after watching Poppy skate. She was amazing on them and promises to be a pro in no time. On Sunday morning while discussing the skating at breakfast she said (quite seriously I must add), "I just have to keep trying until I am good at it."

She even wanted to try to pull Kate on the sled like Poppy & Daddy were able to do.

Here Kate gets her try with the skates on, but she wasn't so sure.

The most fun they had was twirling around and around at the end of the rope as Poppy or Daddy pulled and let them fly in circles on the ice. A few times they tumbled off, but always got right back on for more. Here Kate enjoys a ride with Daddy as the "tow boat"

The Exterior is Complete!

2010-10-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

YEAH!! Today the contractors pulled their trailer and tools out of here and left our finished project. We love the new look of the house, complete from the outside. Can't wait to do some new landscaping now and spruce things up outside come spring.

Here is a closer view of the bay around the front windows. Now tomorrow is window washing day to make it all shine. Thanks for such a great job Jeff!

Now I can't hardly wait for the INSIDE to be finished too!

More July Fun

2010-10-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

On July 17 we attended our first mystery party. What a fantastic time. Despite the VERY hot temps, a great time was had by all in attendance. Carol & Faye really went the extra mile to make this a wonderful experience. Everyone attending was to decorate their pontoon as a section of the cruise ship might be decorated. We were the galley and we hung pots and pans from the top and had a small gas grill to fix Italian sausage for appetizers. There were a dozen boats in all, tied up side by side coming out from two piers. There was a spa, a coffee shop, a ball room, a cocktail lounge, a casino and much more. We have some very creative friends.

Here the "crew" and "passengers" of the Mystery of the Sea as we gathered for a group photo. The two creative ladies who put this all together are there on the first step, trying to play the part of Gillian and Mary Ann. Notice Officer R. (Rusty) Bullet kneeling in the front row. Poppy made an OUTSTANDING Port Authority and presided over the crime in a very professional manner. He took his important roll very seriously and played it to the hilt.

We mingle as everyone tries to learn as much as they can about those under suspicion and figure out who the murder was. For a little while I was afraid it was going to be me, but fortunately Officer Bullet figured out the true identity of the slime ball killer.

On a calm afternoon, Poppy tried out his skiing skills after a VERY long break from the sport he used to love every summer. It was like riding a bike, he popped right up out of the water and did a fine job. He actually went twice before summer's end and vows that he will go more often next summer and plans to ski yet when he is 60! I hope he can...he was always so great at it. Next year he wants to try dropping one ski to slalom again like in his younger days.

The Past Month's Wonderful Exterior Make-over

2010-09-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

On August 26 the contractor and his assistant returned to finish the outside make over. The old siding came off and the ugly foam board was exposed. Step one!

The following Monday they returned to remove the old roof, the last section of original roof to go. This was not structurally necessary, but a cosmetic, elective step. When this 2-story section was added on in the early 90's, for some odd reason the peak was off-centered. We are still wondering why they did many things when this house was built. But, this really bothered Poppy, so we opted to redo this oddity. They took it right down to the rafters and removed the extremely large overhang at the eves.

The roof was then rebuilt with new rafters to raise the pitch and center the peak. Racing the darkening skies and strong winds, the young assistant carried the 4x8' sheets of OSB sheeting up the rafters with ease. I was so afraid the wind would catch him and off he would fly over the lake. Unfortunately, they only got one side totally sheeted before the sprinkles began. Quickly the tarps went on and we were as weather proof as possible for a couple days.

By Sept. 1 the weather cleared off for them and they were able to continue. This shot shows how the north wall had to be built up about a foot or so to allow the peak to be centered once new rafters were set at the same pitch to match our new addition on the opposite end of the house. Before putting the sheeting in place, they also ran additional insulation across the existing rafters to keep us cozier in the heat and cold.

You can see from the end views on these next two photos how the roof pitch changed and how the peak is now centered. From the road side now, the peak is centered between the two upstairs windows.

From the lake it is hard to see the front through the trees, but now here you can see the old roof line where the white siding was still in place. The plywood sheeting is all the newly added part.

This view also shows the huge, flat roof over the bay windows. This also was a bone of contention with Poppy, so now it has been scaled down and a bit of slope added. Just today that was accomplished as they worked on siding the front side and we are anxious to see how this smaller roof looks once shingled by the end of tomorrow.

The next week in September they got to replacing the old windows in the back of the house. My kitchen window over the current sink location was totally removed. You can see in the opening (where the window used to be) the blinds still hanging inside. Then, we took the smaller casement window they are removing in the above photo and installed it in the proper location for the new kitchen plan. They also removed the old double hung windows from the back of the "lodge" room and the other small casement from the back of the family room. Now, this was a cool, windy day when they removed these windows and the house was open to all the weather. I had to bundle up a bit while I was exposed to the elements INSIDE my home. When they left for lunch, it was sort of like, "why lock things up, anyone could crawl in!" Larger casement windows were then installed in these locations to give us a brighter, clearer view.

That evening when Poppy got home from work, he put the window tape around the newly installed windows, preparing them for the siding which was to start the following day. Due to rain and a weekend, the siding actually began five days later. Join me in the next blog to see the awesome transformation that has taken place in the past two weeks!

A House Transformed - Well, Almost

2010-09-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here we are after the first day or so of siding. It was so good to see the Quiet Willow color finally wrap the rest of the house. This color is hard to see in many photos, as the time of day and light can make it look anywhere from very gray to very green. We love it and with the bright white wide trim, it sets it off so nicely. The contractor's assistant was left to get this started when Jeff took off for a fishing vacation. Poppy was also out of town that whole week, so some decisions were left to me. I was out there each evening making sure it was running level and setting Josh straight if I thought things were not as they should be. Poor guy battled some nasty winds trying to hang the house wrap by himself. Rain also slowed down progress, so most of the big progress has been made just this week when Jeff returned and it went much easier with two pair of hands and legs. There was a lot of ladder climbing this week.

These photos taken early yesterday evening as the sun was low in the western sky really make the color look dark. Here you can see the larger windows that will be the back of the family room and the double set at the back of the lodge room. In the future as I stand at my sink, which will be placed in a peninsula coming out from back wall of kitchen, I will be able to look to my right and out the back window and to my left out front to the lake. I am really looking forward to that!

I tried to get this shot without showing all the mess of the siding boxes, saw and trash in the driveway. We will be very glad when all the tools and materials are GONE and cleaned up! Yesterday they were buzzing along on this south side of the house and were half way along the upstairs windows when I came outside to go to town about 10:30. They were rushing to get that side done before lunch break. I looked up and noticed they had not done the wide white frieze board! I asked Jeff, "doesn't the frieze board go on around that side too?" He couldn't believe they had rushed right past that point and had to remove several rows of siding in order to do it right. It would have looked mighty plain without that detail we love so much.

Today's progress focused on the front of the family room and the big bay windows facing the lake. That upstairs section has been our master bedroom for the past six years, but will be guest quarters when our new master is finished in the new section on the main level. We have fondly call this bedroom our "tree house" as it looks out among the branches of the ash and maple trees and you get a birds-eye view of the beauty beyond. They will be using white around the windows with the little scalloped "fish scale" type siding on the bay. We hope that tomorrow evening we can get a final photo to share with everyone. This big step in the process is almost finished! Praise the Lord!!

Come on back soon for a look at the finished product. I will also be summarizing the rest of our summer from mid-July to the end of August with more photos and progress made inside. We love sharing all of this with our family and friends!

Happy Birthday USA!! 2010!!

2010-09-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

The month of July started out with a very special day. We had a house full of family. Not only GG was here and Amanda's crew, but also Great Grandma Jordan! They sure enjoyed watching the great grand girls giggle and play. We even got them both on the pontoon for a beautiful afternoon cruise. How special for Libbers to share a seat with not just one, but both of her great grandmothers.

On Saturday it was pretty hot weather, so there was a lot of swimming going on. Poppy quickly realized the Toy Story float ring did not work too well for him. But, isn't he cute trying to tease the girls into swimming with him?

Cousin Matt came for a visit and he charmed Elizabeth out to deep water to float with him. He has always been a lady's man!

Uncle Bubby stopped by too and had some fun swinging Elizabeth and Kate. They thought he was pretty fun!

He was really taken by all of Jillian's smiles and laughs. She charmed him big time!

All the fun on Saturday, the 3rd had started with Amanda running in the 5.5K around the lake. We were very proud of her! Then, we all boarded the pontoon for the annual boat-in pancake breakfast. Jillian thought it was really fun eating her breakfast on the boat!

The afternoon included lots more water fun, including the slip and slide. Although they didn't do much sliding, they sure enjoyed sitting in the water and laughing their heads off.

This year Kate got to stay up for the fireworks for the first time. Here she is gobbling down her supper, her favorite - HOTDOGS! She knew how special the night would be, so hurry up dark!! They even got a jar from Grandmommy and caught fireflies. Of course, once caught, they were afraid of them!

There was a bonfire and 'somores before it got totally dark and the fireworks started. Such a wonderful day with two very tired little girls when it all ended.

Where Should I Begin???

2010-09-13T17:26:00.001-07:00

Whew, it is hard to believe I have not added new photos or news since right before Memorial Day. Now the days are getting shorter and summer is about over. Guess I better take some time (lots of it!) and catch you up with what has been happening around Loon Lake Lodge over the past three months! The next few nights I will be working to catch up.

I must go back to right after my last post. We had gotten the carpet down and the upstairs was basically ready for occupancy for the Memorial Day weekend. So, they arrived! Everyone was thrilled with their newly finished rooms. Here is a shot of the girls new room and Kate was thrilled to have a "big girl" bed just like Sissy's at the lake!

The weather was beautiful for swimming and of course Amanda was so anxious to "coax" her girls into being water lovers just like she was as a girl. They were not near as excited as she wanted them to be, but here Libbers was about as brave as she ever got all summer.

Kate was more occupied with all the toys to play with in the water and spent most of her time on dry land "squirting" everything in sight. Even GG at one point, which really surprised GG! These toys somehow got tagged by Kate as the "users" so now all water toys are "users." She would see a shovel floating out away from the sand and yell, "get that user!" Poppy even bought a special big tote to store the "users" in! I guess you "use" them to play, hence the "users!"

Of course, this was only Jillian's 2nd visit to the lake, so it was fun to see her explore and see what kind of trouble she could get into crawling all over the deck. She is such a happy-go-lucky girl and always smiling!

She was so near walking, we thought for sure she would take off anytime.

On June 1st, Poppy's birthday, Shell & Richard arrived in the evening. It was wonderful having them come from NC, as Richard had not been to the lake since 2008! He was amazed at all the changes and pitched right in with offers to help Poppy. Of course, we wanted this to be a relaxing vacation for them, as Richard had been busy for the past two years going to school for his master's degree. So, we did not make them work. We PLAYED! The kids gave Poppy a beer brewing kit, so for about one whole day they worked to "brew" his first batch. Poppy also received a Ladder Ball game for his birthday, so we had several fun games to test our skills.

Nice form Michelle!

Amanda and their crew had returned for the next weekend so the whole family could be together. It was fun and we were so happy to have plenty of space for everyone! GG was here one day and for supper we had to set up the card table and all gather around.

Saturday was the Kid's Fishing Derby and everyone "helped" Elizabeth and Kate "catch" fish. Of course, they were scared of them once they were hooked and wiggling all over.

Unfortunately, the rain began just as we returned to have the fish weighed and collect prizes and hotdogs. But, a little rain didn't dampen our spirits too much.

The rest of June was rather uneventful as we enjoyed beautiful summer weather and continued to work on all the remodeling. After several weeks the "home brew" was ready to sample. Here Poppy sits back to relax with a taste of his own refreshing wheat beer. He was quite proud!

Now tomorrow night I will try to summarize July!

A Day We Have Been Anticipating!

2010-05-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how proud I am of all the hard work Poppy has put in to this project. I know I have helped, and many times my help was essential, but all-in-all, he was the one who has accomplished all that we have done in the past year. A year ago he was just finishing up all the electrical wiring. On Memorial Day we began insulating. Now, here we are the week before Memorial Day and we are ready to set the beds back up and have FINISHED space!! The last room to finish was this one, the room for our darling little grand daughters. I say this, as their twin beds will occupy this space with new bright comforters and eventually bright wall art and window treatments. Here Poppy was finalizing the trim work in the closet. But, this is more than a normal closet. It will have sliding doors to hide the contents, but inside you can go back in this nice big storage area too. It has been stuffed with the beds and boxes all winter. After Christmas we took all the beds down and stored them away for the drywall finishing. Now this evening we began to pull them back out of storage. Hopefully by Friday evening they will all be made up and ready for the family to arrive for the holiday weekend!

We especially loved the color we chose for the girls' room once we had it on the walls. It is called Tropical Mist and just looks "yummy" with a bit of almost a florescent glow.

The really exciting part of today was the arrival of the carpet for upstairs! We are thrilled with our choice and love the coordination with wall colors.

Here is the carpet going up the stairwell, although it may not look that much different than the OSB and bare wood steps. It now is so soft and nice to walk on

Here is the hallway looking down into the back bedroom, where the girls' Mommy, Daddy and baby Jillian will sleep.

We were really happy when we were in Menards last weekend and found the perfect ceiling fans and lights. We had purchased two at Lowes, but they ended up being way too big and hanging down too low. So, they went back and we lucked into a great bargain on these. They are perfect and have completed the whole package. Now tomorrow we will be setting up beds and getting them made up. Over the coming weeks we will have the new space full. This is just what we designed the upstairs for, specifically for sharing our Loon Lake Lodge, our very own paradise.

Closer Still

2010-05-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

Well, these past couple weeks have seen Poppy VERY busy with hanging doors and getting everything trimmed out. (I help hold as we hang doors, but I am not much help with the trim.) Here you see the closet doors in the back bedroom, which will be VALUABLE extra storage space!

The upstairs bathroom is taking shape too. We have the linen closet door in place and my little washer I will use for "felting" knitted projects installed. We have looked high and low for just the right mirror and this week when he is in town he is going to City Glass for the right size to just frame white himself. I also want a cabinet above the washer for storage space too.

Another encouraging feature in this bathroom is now some privacy for using the toilet or taking a shower, as there is now a door! This was the door that has been separating the old section from the new, so that was progress in itself to be able to remove that door and put it where it belonged. Hopefully he will get this door trimmed out, the rest of the baseboard in this bath and we can call it done!

We still need to find and hang towel bars/rings and TP holders in both baths, but that will come eventually. Here you see the almost finished half bath, also complete with a door for privacy!!

One big project the past couple days was getting the stair skirting on. These trim boards had to be special ordered after finding none of the "big box" home improvement stores carried them in stock. Poppy worked hard on Thurs. & Friday to get them cut just right, primed and installed.

Here is from the top looking down

and here is from the bottom looking up. Once all the baseboard trim is down, we can get the carpet layers in, which will almost signal completion! Then we will get all the beds back out of storage and set things up for our family to invade us for Memorial Day weekend. Eventually then we will tackle our master bath and be able to move down into our new first floor master bedroom. Maybe by the fall...time will tell. There is so much to do and seems like we keep checking things off the list, but the list is unending.

Poppy is just itching to do more landscaping, but fall is the best time for planting bushes and trees. This area off the driveway was where we took down a big maple tree and a small ash tree. The ground is a mass of roots and tree residue, so we mounded up dirt and added some large bolders Poppy got at the store quarry. Here we work on that, just a tiny start to beautify the yard too. We planted three day lilies among the rocks and will eventually add maybe a bush or two and some ground cover to complete this area. Watch for a photo of the finished affect eventually. Stay tuned for more progress! Ya'll come see us, ya hear?

A Busy Month of Progress with a CAPTIAL P

2010-04-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

Progress...that is what we have made this past month or so!

Here is Poppy laying the Pergo flooring in the upstairs bathroom. There were a few issues to make it a challenge, but we were very pleased with the finished outcome. We also put the same floor in the half bath downstairs. It look great and we have those two rooms almost finished completely.

You can see here he has begun to trim out the baseboards and what a wonderful finished look it gives.

The vanity is all set and we are looking for the perfect mirror for above the sink. The area to the left of the vanity will hold my little top-load washer for felting all my wonderful knitted projects. To the right of the sink is a nice linen closet for some great storage space.

Poppy was relieved as all the electrical wiring is now proving accurate and working fine!

We even have the shower rod installed, making us that much closer to using this new room!

We took a break last weekend to go help out and babysit our three adorable grand daughters for Mike and Amanda. They had a weekend get-away and we stayed Friday and Saturday nights with the girls. Whew, that was exhausting!

Here Poppy models the neat beads Libbers strung for him to wear. How charming! At 4 and a half she is really growing up!

Here I am loving on all three of them! Kate loves her thumb and is fully entrenched in the "terrible 2's" giving us all a run for our money with patience. She is a loving, adorable little gal though and this too shall pass.

Little Jillian was where we saw the biggest growth. She is now 8 months old and can get anywhere she wants as quickly as ever. A happier baby I have never seen and she is the greatest little sleeper! Even plagued by serious teething and fever, she was a joy to be with. Can't wait to get them all up here to Loon Lake Lodge to stay in their newly finished rooms.

After a snafu with the paint tinting, we finally got our master bedroom painted completely. After doing two walls, Poppy went for a 3rd gallon of the "lunar eclipse" color we had chosen. The new gallon was not tinted at all the same and we had to end up repainting the entire room with the correct color. We love the finished color and he now has the windows trimmed out and I have done my simple little task of putting the cover plates on plugs and switches. Before we relinquished the borrowed scaffolding we got the new ceiling fan hung on Tues. evening. It IS coming together.

Today while I slept, Poppy worked on trimming out more windows and putting on baseboards. Then, after I woke up, we set the first door. It is exciting to know we will actually have bedrooms that can be closed off for privacy.

Above is from the hallway view.

Here you see the beautiful paint color and finished dormer window, as well as the newly hung door. YEAH! Progress with a CAPITAL P!!

A Night with a Legend

2010-03-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

You may have read in last night's post that we were unable to see Willie Nelson when we were visiting our daughter because of the weather. Well, tonight we got the job done! Along with six other Loonies, we took off for the big city, a wonderful dinner and a night with a legend.

Here we are after a yummy dinner with lively conversation over food and drink with good friends. Carol, Marlene, Patty, Walt, Chris & Tim, as well as Poppy and myself.

Then it was on downtown to the historic theater to await the concert. As you can see, Carol and Mar were right in fashion with their hats and "Willie" outfits. Mar's kelly green hat actually had lights with the flip of a switch and fuzzy trim around the brim. We could not lose her in the crowd.

Hopefully you can appreciate some of the intricate design and detail in this beautiful historic theater venue. The stage sat awaiting the arrival of our anticipated star. No one could quite imagine the sound Willie could get from that worn out old guitar that stood waiting silently to be secured around his neck with his trusty red,white and blue macrame strap.

He came out in the black hat and started out a bit slow, but before long was in the typical rare Willie form, belting out song after song for a solid 90 minutes non-stop. Although photography was prohibited, Poppy got a few shots from our vantage point in the forth row of the front balcony, perfect seats right in the center of the theater.

He did eventually trade in the black hat for his trademark bandanna, three of which he took off and threw to the crowd in the front row. At the end of the concert he went along and shook hands the entire length of the stage with eager, appreciative fans.

We did notice he seems a bit heavier than in the past, but still able to wow the crowds only as Willie can. Here he is walking off the stage before the house lights came up. A legend in his own right for sure. We were just sorry Shell and Richard could not be here to enjoy it with us.

By the time we had exited the theater and were heading towards the parking garage, here came Willie's bus around the corner and down the street, all to the cheers of fans walking away quite satisfied.

No, we have not fallen off the earth!

2010-03-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted anything on here! It isn't that the winter has been that busy, just haven't been too motivated to sit down and add progress. At times it seemed progress was just creeping along and it was just a bit frustrating coupled with the dead of a nasty winter keeping us inside so much. Let's see, I left off with New Years, so what kept us going the month of January? We muddled through lots of snow and very cold temps. We continued to hang drywall until we finally had it all up. Poppy got the full bath upstairs and the half bath downstairs, as well as the utility room drywall all taped and mudded, finishing it himself. Then, we finally found a guy who gave us a great quote to come in and finish all the rest! This was very encouraging. The last week of January we flew to Florida, where we helped pack up much of my mom's condo of things she wanted back here in her apartment. The weather wasn't too bad and we enjoyed a little reprieve from winter. She flew back home and we took off the last Friday in January driving her van home loaded to the hilt with lots of stuff. We took a slight detour to go visit Shell & Richard in NC. We drove 12 hours that day and drove right into the "triple threat" as the weather channel called it. The area was being blanketed with snow and ice, as well as wind. We were lucky to even get their home, which is up half way on a mountain highway.

Here you see us the next day driving back towards their place after lunch out for Shell's birthday. There are two good sized hills on this mountain road and they have NO idea what to do with the snow on the roads and have doubly NO idea how to drive on it. Cars littered the roadsides because when they encounter the hills, they STOP at the bottom, allowing no momentum to get up to the top! We had no problem other than the local drivers. Poppy used his typical expertise in driving abilities and we had no problems, but there were quite a few "close calls" and tense moments. It was beautiful once the snow stopped and the sun came out and we had a wonderful visit with the kids, although way too short. We had been scheduled to go see Willie Nelson on Saturday night, but the concert was canceled due to weather, a big disappointment.

This photo shows the hills, which the day before were totally covered with snow and ice...and creeping southerners who can't drive in it!

Once home we geared up to host a Super Bowl party a week later. It was fun, especially watching every one's reaction to the Who's half-time show. You can see above how Carol, a favorite neighbor friend really got into the music! We were disappointed that our Colts did not play well, but it was a great excuse for another party!

The greatest part of February was having Mike come in and finish the drywall. He spent long days taping and mudding all the seams and screw holes. He made it all look so easy and we could quickly tell he was a pro. Poppy picked up quite a few tips that he now uses when finishing drywall. It took three weeks, but there were a few days of heavy snow when he could not come. But, eventually had had it all ready for the Spanish lace ceiling texture. This was quite a process.

In order to protect all the walls from the over-spray, he draped plastic throughout the area where ceilings would be sprayed. This took him one entire day! Looks really funny when he left, sort of like living with the "boy in the plastic bubble" affect.

It took him two days to complete all of this process and each day he left looking like a spotted creature. Here you see him spraying the master bedroom ceiling. This sloppy drywall mud mixture sprayed on to the ceiling and EVERYWHERE else.

When he realized I was taking his photo he stopped long enough to smile and pose. If anyone needs a great drywall man, we can give you Mike's number!

Once he had sprayed on the mud, then he used a big squeegee to knock it down and create the texture. Here he was in the utility room the 2nd day, the last area he had to do. Once he sprayed it he left it sit for a little while. I could hear it "plopping" on the floor and top of covered washer/dryer like big glops. I did not dare enter that room or I would have been covered too.

Mid-February our wonderful neighbors had their annual Caribbean Party one Sat. night. They turned up the heat to high 70's and had island decorations and told all of us to come dressed for the warm "weather." It was a blast as usual and here you see Poppy with Tom & Kent enjoying the freedom of their shorts.

We enjoyed lots of euchre, great food and pina coladas. But, there was not a lot of time for playing and relaxing. Soon it was our turn to get in the new section and resume our progress.

Here was Poppy about a week ago as we began priming the new drywall. We were blessed by some friends who loaned us great scaffolding. Add the 18" roller he bought, it made fairly quick work out of a huge job.

After an entire Friday of painting ceilings, here you see the affect it had on Poppy. Not only his face, but his hands and clothes were covered with paint spots. But, it was a very satisfying evening to see all the progress that was made.

By the end of the weekend, we had all the walls done too. Here he comes downstairs to take a much needed break.

Now we just need to decide on paint colors for all the walls so we can do it all over again with the finish colors. That means we will be setting the scaffolding up one more time in the stairwell for that final coat. Did I mention the ceilings have one coat of primer, then the ceiling white, so he has done them two times! Can you imagine what a pooped Poppy I had on my hands after all of this work? Plus, I do not do much painting. I did help a bit the first day, but after that I was simply the "go for" which has always been my expertise. Now, this weekend he made HUGE progress. Yesterday while I slept all day (me weekend to work 3rd shift) he got the upstairs bath painted the final color! It looks so nice!

Today we hung the light above the vanity and are now ready to find the perfect mirror.

He also got the shower rod up. Things are going to actually be usable!! He has installed the smoke detectors, put trim rings in the can lights and duct grids on the registers and cold air returns of the upstairs ceiling. We will get to laying the Pergo floor in this bathroom soon and it will be about done. It is all so exciting.

One last photo I had to share tonight. We have battled this pesky squirrel all winter as he tried to steal the bird seed from both our feeders. We did everything to prevent him from accessing the feeders. He would even climb the nearby tree, go out on the longest limb and jump on to the top of the other feeder to get his fill. We did a lot of shooing him off when we found him there. But, the other day when all our snow had about melted off I figured he would be back to digging up his nuts in the ground. But, no, he had other ideas. He climbed up the shepherd hook and hung over from the top to pry the seeds out of the little holes in this feeder. What a crazy, hungry and persistent squirrel we have. Yes, winter is about over here on Loon Lake. We had a very early ice off and water is again flowing, bringing the return of the water fowl that we enjoy so much this time of year. We are eagerly awaiting the first sighting of a loon or two. In the mean time, we will continue to finish the new space and plan for changes here in the existing part of the house. Will we ever, ever be totally done??

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T18:52:00.001-08:00

The end of 2009 found us enjoying a wonderful New Year's Eve party at Carol's home along with the fantastic friends here on Loon Lake. This group gathers almost every Friday night through the cold season to play euchre and share fun and food. This traditional party is where we review the entire year via an awesome slide show of photos take throughout the year. Walt puts them all to music and we view on Carol's big TV with lots of laughs and remembrances. This year was even more fun for us after being part of this group year round for the entire year. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends. The group consists of over two dozen good friends, many married couples, a set of single sisters, a few widowed men and all of our extended families. There was talk this year of a "polar bear plunge" the next day into the frozen waters of Loon Lake. We were not disappointed. A call about 11 am informed us that they had found some open water and we should come watch the brave souls. Poppy ventured out to represent our twosome and took some great photos and video of the amazing event.

Here you see the one hardy female of the group, Lori who "warmed up" with a few stretches.

Here is Lori's mom, Mar, who can always be found sporting the greatest of fashions for any occasion.

Seems the shoreline needed a little persuasion in order to free up the frozen surface. Walt did the honors while still bundled warm.

Soon the guys readied their bods for the icy plunge. Tim (x-marine) and Walt were also the last to ski the lake back on Oct. 18, donning wet suits and stocking hats in 40 degree weather. So, no real surprise here!

Who appears to be urging someone in? Go Lori! I was not there, but I think from the video below, you will see she was the first, the bravest and the one to plunged the fullest!

May 2010 be a prosperous year for all of you. We look forward to further completion of our remodel project here. Poppy has been busy working on finishing drywall in smaller areas. The upstairs bath is about ready for the final sand and priming. That will then enable us to lay the flooring we have purchased for that space and have one almost finished room! He has taped and mudded the half bath and will next move to the utility room. We also have the flooring for the utility room, so we can have two almost totally finished spaces. He is still trying to find a crew to come in and finish the drywall in the bigger rooms, hallway and stairwell. But, he is prepared do end up doing it himself if he can't hire someone willing to do this task. We will EVENTUALLY have this done. We are also working on design ideas for remodeling the kitchen and tying the old space in with the new and finishing the work needed in the existing lodge room we began to redo almost four years ago. So, our goals for 2010 are pretty lofty and we will be working hard to accomplish it all.

A Very Merry Christmas Here at Loon Lake Lodge

2010-01-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

I sat down here on Christmas evening to write this entry, and somehow I hit a wrong button and all I had composed disappeared. I was so frustrated I just quit and enjoyed the evening. So now I thought I would share a bit of our wonderful Christmas celebration we had here. Amanda, Mike and the girls arrived Wednesday night, beating the lousy weather we were to get. The little ones were quite wound up as you can imagine. Thursday morning found us uncertain of the road conditions for traveling in to see Gary's mom at the nursing home.

Roads around the lake were icy and we had to go a ways before we decided main highways were clear enough to proceed. It was well worth it and we enjoyed a nice lunch and visit with one of the great grandmothers, who LOVED seeing the three girls.

Above you see the packages under the tree awaiting Christmas morning after we had the three little ones tucked in bed on Christmas Eve. What fun to have so many packages under the tree again, we adults could hardly wait!

With no fireplace, the stockings were hung above the wet bar with care. We just wish the other two felted stockings could have been there, we dearly missed Shell and Richard again this year! But, their stockings were hung above their wood stove in NC for their own little Christmas celebration together. Grandmommy had to go in to work on Christmas eve at midnight, so everyone was nestled in their beds by the time she left. On Christmas morning she brought GG home with her to celebrate the day with all of us.

The kiddos were all awake and eager to enter the family room where all the gifts lay waiting. Here you see the three of them in their matching PJs Amanda had made for this special morning. The room did not stay this neat very long. It was a very exciting morning!

The girls were patient only a short while before they couldn't open fast enough. Here Katers is held in amazement at all the packages. I think Libbers may have still be a bit sleepy, as she waited for Poppy to join her in his chair.

It was very special for all of us to have GG here with us for the first Christmas in many, many years. She loved the mittens and scarf I knit for her to keep warm in this cold weather. Our day was relaxing and topped off with a deliscious dinner in the evening. The next day we prepared for yet another family celebration.

We had Cathy and Pat come for dinner along with Matt and Mike. Here they crank out the fresh dough into spaghetti pasta for our feast. What fun for everyone have a part in this meal. Poppy and I prepared the sauce that morning and Amanda made delishious fresh french bread, piping hot at serving time. I had a couple huge yummy green salads and Cak brought baked goodies and peppermint ice cream to top off the big meal. A very special day with family so dear.

Cak's mom Helen came along too, so it was wonderful for the grandmothers to reconnect and spend time together. Later Saturday night the kids packed up their van and ventured back home on a snowy evening. We were very thankful to hear they made it safely and we slept tight to dream of all the wonderful memories.

Whew, It's Been Way Too Long

2009-12-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted anything here. Can you tell it is getting close to Christmas? Hopefully your Thanksgiving was a blessing for your family. We had a wonderful time going to my brother's home. We had not all been together for Turkey Day for so many years, especially wonderful to have Mom there with us. Now we are really excited about Christmas. For the first year, Amanda and Mike will bring the girls up here to celebrate with us. That means GG (my mom) will be able to be part of our entire Christmas weekend watching her three great grand daughters, what can be better at Christmas than little children?

Winter seems to have finally arrived here at Loon Lake. We had a few weeks of delightful Indian Summer with lots of sunshine and warmer temps. But, now we are seeing tiny snow flakes and skims of ice on local ponds. Know eventually the cold temps will take hold of the lake and provide the ice for winter sports fun.

Our renovation project continues to progress. With Poppy busy days up at the office in Nappanee, his ability to work on things non-stop has come to a halt. Now it is the weekends when he makes his best progress. We have almost ALL the drywall hung. The only places to complete are where the old transitions into the new. We have one wall in the master bathroom water closet where we have left it open to the utility room for a pass through during construction. This means that wall in the utility room, which takes in around the furnace closest also is the largest section that still must drywalled. Last week we had a fellow come in to give us an estimate on finishing off all the walls - taping, mudding and sanding all that drywall would take Poppy FOREVER to do. So, with a crew coming in it can be done in less than a week and Poppy will save all his energy for the finishing work to do with trim, doors, etc.

Here you see the stairwell fully drywalled, all but the last section that will go over the bedroom door and connect to the front lodge wall eventually. One of those areas of transition.

These two photos taken the Friday after Thanksgiving show the front wall of the lodge room mostly drywalled. What a difference this made, the room seems so much larger now. He did this the day we hosted the neighborhood euchre group that night. Made a mess, but he did help clean it up in time for our guests!

This weekend Poppy has been working on the transition between the lodge room and the new section along the front wall. He moved the door that used to lead into the temporary walk-in closet. The door was moved to the back side of the "closet" area where we broke through that wall to access the new section months ago. This will allow him to drywall the rest of the front wall of the lodge room.

Here he is hanging the vapor barrier over the insulation.

Here you can see the relocated door to the back of the closet. It used to hang right there where the 2x4 is still on the ceiling from the framing of the wall that enclosed the doorway.

With the door open at the back of the closet area, you can see the stairwell in the new section that leads up to the bedrooms. This whole area will eventually be opened up to create the area leading to the new hallway at the bottom of the stairwell, outside our master bedroom and the half bath. Can't wait til this is ALL done!

A parting shot for tonight, this beautiful full moon seen through the bare branches of the winter trees. Later in the evening it was sparkling off the entire lake making things all aglow!

Where Have We Been?

2009-11-01T15:36:00.001-08:00

Oh, we've been around. Just seems so busy but not with much that exciting. It is hard to understand just where the days and weeks go, time sure does fly by when you have so much on a "to do" list. The weekend after the chili cook-off party, we had the annual PPP. That is known by many around the lake as the Pier Pulling out Party (or in about April, the Pier Putting in Party). This starts with a pitch-in breakfast about 9 and then many hands make light work. Several men and a few women don waders and tackle the cold lake to remove piers, rafts and boat lifts for the winter. When it is the autumn PPP, it is a bit bittersweet, as we hate to see summer end and give the lake back to Mother Nature for a rest period. But, in the spring we joyfully gather to "take back the lake" at the official kick-off to summer fun. That was the 17th of October. Then, that following week Grandmommy took a short road trip down to visit the grandchildren for a few days. What fun to hold the new little one again and see how much she had changed and grown already. Then, when she returned for the weekend, we had two nights in a row with euchre parties to attend, another non-summer activity here with the year round folks. Last night for Halloween, we attended the annual costume party at some good friends' home. They go all out with decorations everywhere you look, each and every room of their home is decorated and there is always loads of fun seeing what costumes are created each year.

Yesterday afternoon Poppy caught this photo, which we thought looked a bit spooky and very appropriate for a Halloween day. He was outside on the deck and Sammy was inside looking out the patio door. The reflection created sort of a surreal image.

Then, when she does come out on the deck, she loves to chase the blowing leaves and eat them. Thus, she is not able to come out much. She just doesn't understand that leaves are not for eating.

Speaking of leaves, here are the hardy few that are still clinging to the one maple out by the lake. Last weekend almost all of them fell in the front yard and we spent a few hours clearing them up. It took forever to burn them, as after the heavy rain we had on Friday, they were still awfully wet. It was more like smoldering, smoking leaves most of the day.

But, as you can see, today there were still a few hardy souls of the maple variety and the beautiful sunny day made for a perfect back drop to Poppy's photo. We spent this afternoon raking, blowing and burning those that had finally fallen in the back yard and hopefully they are about all down.

The finishing of the new section continues to progress well. We are nearing the end of hanging drywall. The master bedroom is about done and then all we have left is the stairwell walls and inside a few closets upstairs. But, before we got the stairwell drywalled, we had a big project to tackle. When the contractor did the stairwell he took the stair treads right out flush with the wall studs. This makes drywalling the stairwell very tricky. So, to make it right, we tackled the big project of rebuilding the stairwell. In the photo above you can see how the treads as they were done originally. We started with the lower section of the stairwell, the first six steps below the landing where it turns.

Here is a shot of the "after" on the lower section. You can now see that the stair tread is spaced out from the wall studs leaving space for the drywall sheet to drop right down along stair edge and also allows for the wood trim board that will also be installed along the steps. It was work, but will be worth it as we finish this section off. Tearing it apart was much harder than putting it back together. But, we worked together and got it done easily.

Here you see Poppy at work as we began to tear down the top section of five steps. The spots you see are the dust particles floating in the air as he pries and pulls and hammers this step loose.

By the end of the day yesterday we had the upper section torn apart so we could begin to redo it. Today we had a bit of time after the leaf raking to install the boards that are the spacers and the stringers are back in place. So now all we must do is trim down the risers and stair treads so we can reinstall them to finish off this job. Then we will continue with the final drywall and feel like we have accomplished A LOT! Can you see why I haven't been here to blog lately? We are just so busy. Poppy has been quite busy during the day with his new job so he is not here to work near the hours he did this summer. So, the weekends see the bulk of our progress and they have been chocked full of social events we don't want to miss. Hopefully I will be back soon to share the finished drywall photos.

Fall Fun, Food and Fellowship

2009-10-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Fall is definitely here and last week's full moon was just beautiful rising over the opposite shore. For three nights in a row we watched as this giant orb lifted from among the trees to shine almost like daylight and reflect off the lake with brilliance so awesome.

Then, as beautiful as the nights were, one morning God's handiwork was just amazing with a sky of dozens of colors bringing forth the sunrise. Poppy could not resist catching the wonder of it for us to enjoy on those drab, gray dark mornings to come.

As you can see, the wonderful colors reflected in the water making a lake of pinks and purples, calm and still as glass.

With the cold nights our leaves are quickly changing and our red maple we planted a few years back is a great example of the fall foliage.

Since this time of year brings a halt to the fun ON the lake, we must begin to make our fun in other ways. Thus, this weekend was the first of many social events. We partnered with our neighbors to hold a Chili Cook-off at Loon Lake Lodge, followed by a Barn Dance at Loon Lake Resort, which sits right next door to us.

In this photo you can see the festively decorated barn across the road where everyone migrated to as their bellies were filled with chili. But, first we all congregated in our new attached garage. The turn out was wonderful, with over 40 guests squeezing in to grab a sample of a DOZEN different pots of chili. We were not sure how many entries we would have in the chili cook-off and were so happy that many guests tried their culinary talents on pleasing the crowd. Each person had a small bowl of each of the twelve chili pots and recorded their impressions on a ballot sheet. Then, after they had sampled them all, they were to vote on their favorite. They were all good and it was fun to realize there are so many different ways to make chili taste just a little different than the next.

Here you see the one row of crock pots as everyone eagerly dipped in to get a helping.

Folks then found a spot to sit or kept eating on the run as they visited and went back for the next helping to sample.

We were blessed by a beautiful day yesterday after two days of almost solid rain. By evening it was getting a bit chilly and only a few braved sitting out on the driveway but the chili kept us warm from within.

Once all the votes were in and the ballots tallied, we were able to announce the winner. The winner received a hand made apron embellished with his status as 2009 Loon Lake Chili Cook-off #1. This culinary genius is also an auto mechanic and real estate agent. A true jack of all trades. He proudly wore his apron for the entire barn dance and said when he got home he would strip down for bed and maybe put it back on to wear all night. What a sight that would have been!

The barn dance was fun, but there was not a lot of dancing. A few square dances with just one square, a few more line dances with everyone trying to follow those who knew the steps. There was just one "belly rubbin" song as this couple likes to refer to slow dancing. Here "Stickman" and "Two Beers" strut their stuff. It was fun watching one couple as they did some fancy 2 stepping and appeared they had done it a lot together.

Today saw us back to work as usual. After sleeping in and a nice big breakfast, we got busy cleaning up the garage. Once that was back to normal, Poppy had me holding the ladder as he got on the roof to blow the eves clean of the leaves and he eventually hauled out the power washer to clean the north side of the siding from the scuz that builds up in the constant shade. All this green mold washed right off and it looks much better now.

He followed that up with a power wash job on the deck and then he planted some spirea bushes out front to begin our landscaping. Lastly he lit a bon fire and was burning up scrapes of wood and a few leaves he raked from the front yard. It is almost 7 pm and he FINALLY came inside for a shower and supper of leftover white chicken chili I made for yesterday. I have a large pan of apple crisp to pop in the oven for a warm, yummy dessert later while we watch The Amazing Race or the football game. It has been a great, full weekend and although I hate to see summer over, I do love this time of year. We have social events on the calendar for the next three Saturday nights, so we will be plenty busy with all our Loon Lake friends!

Buttoning Up Further For Winter

2009-10-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

With autumn in full bloom we know how vital it is to finish all the things on our list that prepare us for winter's blast. So, last Sunday we got the rest of the siding hung on the front porch wall. It looks so nice and we can't wait to get the rest of the house sided next spring. Here you see Poppy relaxing with Sammy once we had all the mess cleaned up and were done.

Today we tackled the blow-in insulation in the attic area above the master bedroom. This was quite a messy job and I think I got the harder end of this job. Here you see Poppy as he directed the hose to distribute the insulation as it blew out.

Had to laugh when I saw him, check out the close up view. Then I went inside and saw myself in the mirror. I was just as bad, we both looked a bit like snowmen from the dust created by the fibers.

Then he caught me working very hard. I had to tear open each bag and pull it out chunk by chunk. It was firmly packed in there and my arms are sore tonight after separating and dumping 28 bags! This went into the hopper and the paddles further separated it and blew it through the hose to Poppy upstairs.

Did I mention how loud the hopper was? Should have ear plugs, but I endured it OK. My bandit-like look kept SOME of the dust from my nose and lungs, but don't think it worked quite as well as Poppy's mask. It was the last one and I generously let him wear it. Didn't know he was going to catch me on film!

Tomorrow we have two walls in the walk-in closet to drywall and one wall in the utility room. Then we can move my washer and dryer back where they belong so I can do some laundry. Then we can also hang the two florescent lights in the garage, probably a full day's work. We are making great progress and know every weekend brings us closer to completion. But, we also often wonder, will it ever be all done? We'll keep you posted on our progress, thanks for coming by to check in.

Two Big Steps Forward

2009-09-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

As autumn approaches, we are eager to complete projects that will help us prepare for winter. One BIG goal in this whole remodel was to have an attached garage, which will make winter and cold weather all that much easier. Now that the garage ceiling is drywalled, we were able to get the garage door opener installed. In the photo below you will see Poppy's initial progress last Friday. While I slept all day (I worked both Thursday and Friday nights 3rd shift) he tackled a quiet job (no hammering while I sleep is the one thing I requested this summer). He got the wiring installed for the electric garage door opener. Of course he had not thought about this wiring before we hung the drywall. But, fortunately he was able to access what he needed from above by removing one piece of drywall in a bedroom. So, all the wiring was ready to mount the unit and attach it to the door.

Here you see the button to push as we come out through the utility room to open the door. (Exciting, huh? But it is when you are used to a garage and go through a winter without one!)

This afternoon he finalized the installation. Works great and is so quiet. Now we just need to be able to put the cars IN the garage. All in due time!

Our other current project we started on Saturday. We have been eager to get the front porch wall sided to match the new section. We got started Saturday and worked Sunday until we hit a point where we needed a special piece to go around the outside electrical outlet. Today I picked up the piece so we can finish it up this weekend. It will look so much better and the whole house will be totally sided. Well, it may still be TWO different colors, but at least it will be sided and snug for winter. Our plan is to reside the old section next spring after making a few changes in windows and roof line on the existing section of the house. Again, as our motto has been this past year, "all in due time!"

Hopefully early next week I can post a photo of this finished project so you see the completed look of the porch. Our weather and days for sitting out enjoying the porch are drawing to a close and we savor every day when it is warm enough to sit and relax there watching the lake go by. This was our "living room" for most of the summer!

A Short Report

2009-09-17T16:11:00.001-07:00

I want to try to do a better job of keeping things up to date on here, so wanted to report on the past few days. Last week after Shell headed back to NC, it seemed sort of lonely around here. Now here it is mid-September already! You can tell autumn is almost here, as leaves are starting to fall, many are turning on the edges of the branches and in the morning you should see the heat coming off the lake. As the nights cool off into the 40's and 50's, the mornings hold beautiful sunrises with the mist blowing over the lake as warmer water meets cool air. Right now I am looking out on a beautiful evening with the sinking sun shining on the opposite shore. It looks like it is raining on the lake but it is only tiny minnows jumping out of the water as they try to avoid the mouths of the hungry larger fish. Such an amusing sight to behold. But, enough of the scenery, let's take a look at our progress of the past few days!

Shell helped Poppy get started on the master bedroom walls. Now we have gotten two of the four walls totally hung and half of the north wall done. We have also moved the drywall leaning against the last wall so now he can finally get to the electrical outlets and switches that need finalizing. We will insulate this last wall to help keep our bedroom quiet from noise on the stairway and the upstairs bathroom, then we can drywall that final wall. In the photo above you see Poppy finishing up the front wall under the windows.

Today we accomplished the last ceiling job. With the help of the trusty drywall jacks, we got all the garage ceiling hung with no snags. Now we can install lights and the garage door opener, which will be very nice. Maybe someday soon we will actually pull cars into the garage!! That will be one very HAPPY day for Poppy! I know this will definitely happen before the snow flies! We are hoping to get the front porch wall sided to match the green on Saturday, so I will definitely post photos once that is done. Have a great weekend!

Even More Progress!

2009-09-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

Despite how busy we've been the past few weeks, we have made marvelous progress here at Loon Lake Lodge. However, before sharing our construction progress, let us take a moment to introduce little Jillian Claire! I spent last week down helping out the new mother and getting to know Jillian much better. It was a wonderful visit and I was thrilled to be able to help out.

Of course I also loved being with Elizabeth and Kate too, they are such darling little girls adjusting to having a baby sister. On Thursday Poppy was even able to join up with us on a trip to the Children's Museum. He had driven a school bus trip down for the day and so we ventured out to meet up with him at the girls' favorite place. He loved watching their enjoyment of all the attractions. Here the three of them worked the Rube Goldberg display to make the pool balls travel the distance and return to go again.

I returned to the lake Friday evening in order to prepare for Labor Day weekend and all the festivities. Saturday we were busy finishing up the drywall in the back bedroom upstairs. Then we worked to clean up all the dust and mess for our company arriving the next day. Late on Sunday afternoon Michelle arrived for a short visit. We were deeply disappointed that Richard could not join us too, but he is quite busy with his schooling, teaching and research at Knoxville where he works towards his masters degree. Shell was amazed at our new wing of the house, which she had only seen in photos. While we waited on her arrival, we got most of the garage ceiling insulated and just kept on working. Not much rest for the weary!

Monday morning early Amanda and her crew arrived for a day at the lake. Here the sisters sit and catch up a bit while watching Libbers play in the sand and shallows. It was so good seeing them able to spend a little time together. It does my heart to good to see how close these girls have grown as adults

Of course, this was Jillian's first visit to the lake. She was all dolled up to be introduced to the extended family. We had my brother and his family here for the late afternoon and evening to celebrate Mom's 85th birthday. It was great to see everyone. We had not been all together for over a year. Here are the cousins all smiling after a big meal awaiting birthday cake.

On Tuesday it was just Shell with us, as everyone else took off Monday night. I had to go to town for a while in the morning and when I returned, Poppy and Shell were busy hanging drywall. Here they are working on the walls high up in the master bedroom.

She is a work-horse, so strong and able. As you can see, Father and Son...ah, um daughter, are very proud of their accomplishment.

So, to summarize, we have all the drywall hung upstairs except inside the closets where we will use up smaller pieces when finished with the walls and large areas. Our bedroom is coming along quicker than expected and today we worked to hang yet several more sheets on the walls. It is very exciting to see it coming together.

Photos of our Progress!

2009-08-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

WOW, has it really been over 3 weeks since I last updated this blog? So sorry, but our lives seem to be so busy lately. And, without the camera to document out progress, didn't seem too exciting to tell you what was going on when I couldn't show you. So, since Poppy bought a new camera the other day, thought I would get back on here. But, before updating you on the progress at Loon Lake Lodge, we must share the excitement of adding yet another member to the family. Jillian Claire was born last Monday, August 24 at 6:44 in the morning. Mother and baby are doing great. She joins big sisters Kate (who turned 2 August 6) and Elizabeth (who will be 4 on October 8!) so they now have their hands very full with three little ones. We drove down to see her and help keep the others this past week and it made for a week that flew right past. I am going to go help with the girls and new babe next week, so I promise to post some photos of Jillian, as well as her adoring sisters when I get back home.

Now, here is what we have accomplished here. When I last posted I reported that the furnace closet had been finished off inside. Well, now we have an entirely new heating and AC system installed. This new geothermal unit will keep us toasty warm and comfortably cool whenever we need it. Plus, it is tucked away back in the new utility room, so when it runs we won't hear it. But, even if we are in the utility room you can't hear it run. The old geo unit was under the stairwell in the family room and when it kicked on we had to crank up the volume on the TV to hear over the loud rumbling. This new system will be so wonderful!! The guys were here for an entire week getting this all installed and all the new duct work done. This closet will eventually have bi-fold doors to hide if from view. All in due time!

Next, the upstairs hallway is about totally drywalled. We have framed in a doorway to create a storage closet on the one side of the hallway, utilizing the wasted space created by the knee wall. We also will have a desk area recessed back into this area off the loft at the top of the stairwell. Hanging the drywall on these angled ceilings and all the can light and electrical plugs/switches made for some time consuming measuring and figuring. This view is looking from the loft area down the hallway. At the end is the doorway into the back bedroom. The doorway on the right is the other bedroom and the doorway framed on the left goes into the storage area. Where the drywall turns the corner there at the right leads into the bathroom at the top of the stairwell. I think I have Poppy convinced to hire someone to come in and mud and finish off all this drywall, as it will be one HUGE, messy job. Money well spent, plus we will then have the textured ceilings we want.

Some of the trickiest and toughest drywall to hang was over the stairwell. This was up two stories and I wasn't sure we could even do it. Well, last weekend with the help of one strong neighbor friend, they got the ceiling hung above the stairwell. This photo is from the vantage point at the bottom of the steps looking up. They positioned these leftover beams across to create "catwalks" on which to stand, then they could be out over the stairwell to access this high space. This picture is actually quite confusing if you don't know what you are looking at, but you might be able to figure out just how treacherous it looked from my viewpoint as I prayed no one would fall!

These next two show the upstairs bathroom. Poppy has started to tape and mud this room, as we hope to have the vanity set and shower/tub functional next weekend. The only part yet to drywall here is inside the linen closet. This first view is looking into the tub/shower, stool area, which can be closed off by a door from the rest of the bathroom. Linen closet is the area there to the left without drywall.

This is the other view of this bathroom, looking in from the hallway. The left side of this divided area will house my top loading washing machine I will use specifically for felting knitted projects. I want him to put a cabinet above the washer for storage. Then, the middle portion of room will be the vanity and sink. We started with a full wall between these two and decided to take it down to a half wall so it would not seem so broken up. Glad we did. The blue up in right hand corner near ceiling is where vanity light will hang, with mirror below. Just to right of this area is the linen closet seen in the other photo.

This week we accomplished one BIG task. On Friday we rented drywall jacks with plans of hanging the drywall on the bedroom ceilings upstairs and MAYBE the master bedroom too. Well, since the master bedroom is a 10'6" ceiling height, he needed the extra tall jacks. This meant they were too tall to use up in the bedrooms with 8' ceilings. (great planning Poppy!) So, we tackled the master bedroom ceiling, which also must be done in order to do the blow-in insulation above that area. However, we had 12' sheets of 5/8" drywall, which are very, very heavy. There was no way the two of us could lift these big sheets up on to the drywall jack, which was about shoulder height. Another poor planning on Poppy's part. He just did not anticipate all of these things. But, don't say that Poppy is not up to any challenge. He soon went to the garage and brought in his old block and tackle pulley system. After hooking it over the main beam of the master bedroom area, we devised a way to hoist up each sheet of drywall high enough to get it on the lift. We could never have done this without the wonderful help of our kind neighbor, Tom. He came over six times to help when we had a full sheet to hang. The smaller 4' square sections we could handle the two of us. In this photo you can see Poppy after fastening up the first section after it was successfully hung. But, notice the chain hoist in the photo, that was our lifesaver! Thanks Uncle Art...who sold us the block and tackle with a sailboat some 30 years ago!

Here was the drill, as I caught the last sheet hoisted up with the camera. This was a piece narrower than the other large ones, as this was only a partial width. But, you can see Poppy and Tom steadying the sheet midway through the process of hoisting it up. I stopped to snap the photo, then hoisted it on up to their shoulder height, then I rolled the lift under it so they could sit it on the rack. I'm surprised they were smiling, this was hard work! I think the "spots" that look like water spots on the lens are all the dust that was floating around in the room all day.

This was a great application for the Roto Zip tool the kids gave Poppy for Christmas. He is "zipping" around the can light in the first section that was hung. This was much easier than measuring and figuring just where to cut that hole prior to hanging the piece. Thanks for the nifty tool!

Here is Poppy screwing the final piece in place. Ah, a job well done!

So, now we plan on renting the regular height drywall jacks tomorrow in hopes of getting the ceilings of the upstairs bedrooms hung. I am leaving Tues. to spend the week helping with the baby, so if we want it done before Labor day when the kids will all be here again, tomorrow will be the day. Wish us luck! I'll be back as things progress. Thanks for stopping by! Come on up to Loon Lake and visit us here at the Lodge. We'd love to see you all!

Where Have We Been??

2009-08-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

You may wonder why no posts for quite some time! Well, for about two weeks we were without a computer. It crashed and we finally got the new one up and running today. Also, as I reported a month or so ago, our camera also died. Therefore, we have not been taking any photos, thus not the urge to post our progress on the blog. So sorry it has been a while.
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We have been pretty busy although absent from blog land. Two weeks ago Poppy was able to get the furnace closet totally drywalled and finished, applying the primer paint the day before they came to install the new geothermal heating and AC system. They were here all last week, and now we have a totally new system to keep us snug and warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The old geo furnace was removed, giving us some new storage space, which is badly needed right now.
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Yesterday we worked to get the half bath drywalled and today while Grandmommy slept all day (after working last night) he hung some sheets in the hallway where the new section transitions into the old section. Of course, most of the day he was working to get the new computer up and running. Hopefully tomorrow he can get even more drywall hung. He must also install the drain for the half bath sink, which we had the plumber leave undone because we were unsure on the type of sink or vanity we wanted in that room. Now we have the vanity and are ready to install the drain so we can get that new room up and functional. Things are moving along, yet seem to be moving slower than desired. With August here, we are shocked how quickly summer flew past. The weather has been so unseasonable that we keep waiting for "summer" to really happen.
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Today was our darling grand daughter's 2nd birthday. Kate is a fireball and yesterday she gashed her head open on a door frame, requiring three stitches. I guess it did not slow her down too much. We look forward to seeing her, as well as sister Elizabeth on Saturday when we travel there for the big birthday party. GG will be going with us and it should be a fun day for everyone! I hope to be back soon with more progress and maybe some new photos to share.

A Busy and Lonely Week for Grandmommy

2009-07-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, eleven days since my last post. Seems I have trouble finding enough news and progress to report lately. But, thought I better fill you all in on what is new with us.
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Last week Poppy was gone on his wonderful Canadian fishing trip with his brothers, cousins and nephews. They had a great time and he brought home his limit on walleye and some pike, tucked away in the freezer for a yummy fish fry soon. While he was gone, Grandmommy kept busy here at home and with a few extra shifts at work. I spent extra time with GG to alleviate the boredom and loneliness. Last Sunday I spent a few hours putting insulation up in our new master bedroom, a task I told Poppy I would try to get to. I went through several rolls of insulation as I installed maybe a third of what was needed to insulate the walls. Today we finished that job, all walls are now insulated except the one wall where drywall is leaning up against it. We also got two thirds of the ceiling drywalled in the utility room, as well as the ceiling in the furnace closet. Tomorrow the heating and AC guys are coming and we look forward to getting the new geothermal furnace installed soon. Progress is being made, just seems a slow process. Sorry I do not have any photos to share tonight, guess the camera is on the fritz right now.
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Yesterday we took a break to relax and have fun. They held the first annual Loon Lake Poker Rally. This was done with boats and you had to solve the clues to find which pier to tie up to where you would receive your next card. We joined up with some friends on their pontoon and six of us all tried to gather the cards for the best poker hand. Lots of fun, sun and friendship. Then, in the late afternoon there was a party to attend on the lake. There was wonderful food and corn hole games. Finally, last night we played euchre with our neighbors, where the guys ended up winners of the best of five games.
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We are really enjoying this unseasonably mild summer weather. Temps and humidity are much lower than normal and nights are perfect for sleeping with windows cracked open a bit. Hard to believe July is 3/4 of the way over and August is close on the horizon. That means our third grand baby will be here sooner than later, due the first week in September. Everyone pray for Amanda as she endures these last weeks and pray for a healthy baby, maybe even a BOY this time. We will love whatever God has to share with us, but how much we would all LOVE a BOY to add to Libbers & Kate. We will just have to wait and see!

Where Have We Been...

2009-07-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

You may ask? Keeping busy, that is for sure!

Sorry it has been so long since I posted a blog entry. We have been making progress here on the Lodge, but just not photo worthy progress. That makes me forget to update you on progress. More drywall has been hung and we got the door installed between the garage and utility room. However, Poppy has been distracted by other obligations and hasn't been able to do as much on the interior finishing.

This Friday Poppy takes off for his annual Canadian fishing trip, so that has kept him occupied. He is in charge of meals and taking groceries, so he has become a bargain shopper and is very excited about this year's trip. This will be the first time it has been just family. His two brothers, one nephew, two cousins and their sons. A total of 8 who should have a marvelous week together. He has also been busy redoing the brakes on his SUV, a dirty job that has entailed both front and rear brakes and ordering parts to complete the job.

But, we took time out to have lots of fun. This past weekend was 4th of July, so we got to celebrate with the kids and grands.

Libbers loved the new sand toys and staying close to shore in the sunshine on Friday.

But Katers did not disappoint her Mommy, as she loved the water and did not want to get out!

Saturday was a dreary, cloudy day but it didn't dampen much of the fun. When it rained lightly that evening, we just stayed up on the porch and stayed dry. GG was here for the whole afternoon and evening and got some great quality time with her two great grand daughters. This was very special! Libbers and Kate got their first sample of somores and LOVED them. It wasn't raining enough to douse our bonfire, so toasted marshmallows were possible.

Libbers was even old enough to stay up for the fireworks and lightening bugs, so that was a lot of fun to hear her reaction to all this excitement. The rain stopped in time for the fireworks to go off as scheduled, followed up by a slice of Grandmommy's turtle cheese cake before bed. YUMMY!

It is hard to believe summer is half over already. We hope to make some great progress on the drywall and all once Poppy is back from fishing and we finish out July. Enjoy your summer everyone!

Break On Through to the Other Side!

2009-06-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Just a snippet of why we love living here on Loon Lake. One morning this week Poppy caught this fellow visiting our pier as he watched for fish. The herons are often seen wading along the shoreline fishing and it is fun to watch their crazy actions.

OK, now in tribute to the Doors, today was the time to "Break On Through to the Other Side." We finally moved things out of the walk-in closet in order to break through the back wall into the new addition. This makes the new space more of a reality. Now we have a walk-through closet. We moved the filing cabinet and the hanging rod and shelf from the closet and tore down the back wall. After removing the studs we now have the hallway that will connect the lodge room with the new section. Here you see Poppy resting after all this work. He is sitting on the steps that lead up to the new bedrooms and bath upstairs. If you walk through this closet and turn to the right you would enter the new master bedroom. If you turned to the right, you would have the new half bath.

Here is the opposite view as I stood behind Poppy up on the stairwell landing halfway up. To the left at the bottom of the steps is the doorway into the master bedroom. To the right is just a tiny niche outside the half bath. Once we are complete, this closet will no longer exist, but this area will be a short hallway of sorts leading to this new area.

After a little rest, Poppy took my job and sucked up all the drywall dust and mess from breaking through the wall. Gotta love this guy!

The other accomplishment for today was removing the old window from inside the closet. This window used to be in the bathroom that occupied this space when we purchased the home. Now we will be able to side the front porch area so it matches the green of the new section. That will make us feel very good to complete this area where we spend so much time.

Next on our agenda of priorities is to decide on flooring for the utility room and upstairs bathroom. Then we can get the furnace set in the new utility room and install the door between the garage and utility room, as well as setting the sink and vanity upstairs and getting that bathroom more complete. Stay tuned for future progress!

Where Did the Last Two Weeks Go??

2009-06-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been so absent from Blog land! I can't believe it was already two weeks ago that we were anticipating the arrival of family to fill the two new bedrooms we had prepared. On Friday, June 5, the fifth anniversary for our younger daughter, she arrived with her hubby and the wonderful grand daughters. What fun to show them the new space we built just for them! Of course, it was very crude accommodations for this first visit, but they were just fine with it. That night they took off to celebrate their anniversary and left Elizabeth and Kate with us for the evening. What fun! The next morning was the annual kids' fishing derby here on Loon Lake. Poppy and their daddy took off to register them and came home sporting wonderful fisher-girl hats and containers of worms. To say the least, the interest on the part of the girls was a bit lame. However, Poppy and Mike had fun trying to catch fish out here from the pier.

But, later that afternoon, once Elizabeth had "won" her own special Barbie fishing pole, she was hard at work trying to catch some. Don't you just love the hat??

While big sis tried her hand at fishing, Mom and Katers enjoyed just sitting on the pontoon. Suppose the new babe still in womb will enjoy the lake like the big sisters do already? Baby #3 is due in three months! Of course, Kate had to "practice" her driving skills for when Poppy allowed her to drive on a cruise.

On Sunday Great Grandma Jordan was able to make a trip to the lake to see how the girls had grown. She was thrilled to get to know them better and enjoy our front deck and a burger cookout.

Kate, just two months short of her 2nd birthday loved the lake and being at Grandmommy and Poppy's. She really didn't remember it from last summer but this year will establish many, many traditions and memories. Here she enjoys Poppy's big recliner.
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The past two weeks we have been busy with all the work to finish the new addition, but it all seems like such slow progress. We had water softener problems and got a new one, but we are still having problems. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon. We also had GG in the hospital for four days with a mild stroke, so that took up quite a bit of Grandmommy's time. Between working and caring for GG, it hasn't left much time to just relax, much less help Poppy with much. Hopefully we can get some good productive days and make stuff happen around here soon. At this rate, we may not have a whole lot more done before the fam returns for July 4th! Wish us luck!

Huge Progress When Under Pressure!

2009-06-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

WOW! The past few days have been non-stop work all day. But, look at the progress we have made! This is the back bedroom, where our daughter and son-in-law will sleep tomorrow night! It will still be a bit like camping out, as the ceiling is not drywalled yet and they will have a blanket hung as a door, but otherwise we have made great progress with drywalling. The ceilings must wait for drywall jacks and some men to help, as the 12' drywall sheets are just too heavy for Grandmommy to help much. Plus, until we cleared out the piles of drywall in the middle of the rooms, we could not get a drywall jack set up in here. So, this was done a bit unconventionally, but done none the less.

Here you see the hallway, which was taken mid-afternoon. At this point, at 8:30 pm, the entire hallway is drywalled on the left hand side. That closed in the bedroom for the little girls who will sleep there tomorrow night! We have one and a half wall to cover yet between the front bedroom and the bathroom, then that will also be all enclosed. Hope they like their new room at Grandmommy and Poppy's Loon Lake Lodge. They were the reason for all this extra space we built upstairs!

Check out this wonderful shot of Poppy installing the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. It is quite unusual to catch a plumber squatting over like this without seeing the proverbial "plumber's crack!" This portion of the bathroom is also partially "private" with drywall half way up the walls. This will be the only functioning facility in the new bathroom, as sink and tub are not plumbed yet. They will use the old shower and sink in the existing part of the house like they always have. But, with our daughter being 6 months with-child for our 3rd grandbaby, she MUST have a toilet upstairs and close for all those night time potty calls.

You would not be able to take the photo from this angle at this point, as we have drywall along this wall to close off the bath from the stairwell. Tomorrow morning we will hang just a couple more pieces of drywall, then Poppy will tuck all electrical wiring into their boxes so I can put cover plates on and safety plug covers. Then, when the kids arrive tomorrow afternoon, Mike can help Poppy take beds up to set up, a queen, a twin and the crib. Then, Amanda and I can make up the beds and hang some sheets at the windows and doors to complete the look. Hope they all sleep well at the lake this weekend! We can't wait to have them here!

Wonderful Progress!

2009-05-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

WOW! We have made some very important progress in the past couple days. This photo was taken on Friday, you can see how well the grass has come in out front. As of this afternoon, it has been mowed for the first time! That is progress after we endured all that dirt and mud all winter. We couldn't wait to have a nice green lawn again.

On Friday Poppy was busy with the plumber as they moved the water heater, water softener and well tank from their temporary spots to their permanent location in the new garage.

Here you see Chris working on connecting pipes and Poppy was busy hooking up the electrical connections for it all.

Here is the finished look. This wall of the garage was drywalled last weekend, but we still need to prime and paint it. There will be one more water heater eventually, as part of our new geo-thermal system, they have an extra water heater which basically stores hot water and makes the air conditioning system even more efficient. We will use very little electricity to heat water in the summer with this feature. Poppy's plans are to build this area into a closet sort of enclosure to reduce dust and dirt in these systems.

Yesterday we went and bought all the insulation for this project. So, when we got home we set to work. The pressure is on to have the two upstairs bedrooms and bath ready for occupancy this weekend! It will be pretty rough conditions, but they should have drywall and maybe doors, but not a whole lot more. But we would do anything to be able to have the family come, especially the two grand daughters!

Here I am, excited to finally be able to help a lot. I cut rolls of R19 into appropriate lengths for each exterior wall cavity. I was proud, I usually do not like razor knives, but I got very good at it.

Poppy was thankful for the help, as we made a pretty good team. He worked the ceiling cavities and I handled the walls. The back bedroom is about all insulated and the walls of the front bedroom and bath are all done. Hopefully tomorrow he can finish the ceiling so we can start drywalling!

Here you can see my work table and the work in progress. I hung about all the white insulation...

and Poppy did all the pink and the kraft faced on the ceiling. You can see, this room is about ready to drywall! Think we can have it ready for you to sleep in Friday night Amanda? This is your room!

One of the most important accomplishments this weekend was getting the washer and dryer up and running! It was in December when I last did laundry here at home. These beauties have been in storage since then. Today we got them set up and I have done two loads of laundry. What a joy! Of course, the condition of my utility room is rather rough, no drywall or flooring, and storage for the air compressor, but I sure don't care. The door between the utility room and garage isn't even installed yet, but no big deal to me! We will have to unhook them and move them again to put down flooring, but I sure wasn't going to wait on that. I just wanted the convenience of laundry here again. So, as you can see, we will be very busy all week. Tonight when we quit insulating at 8:30, we took time to carry the new toilet up to the bathroom so Poppy can get it installed. Pray we can get done with what we must have done. Friday will be here before we know it. Night!

A Sad Day Here at Loon Lake

2009-05-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been absent from blog land, but things have been pretty busy around here. Today we had a sad day, as we spent the morning at the vet with our cat, Cassidy. She had quit eating about a week ago and we thought it was the loose tooth she has had. They were at the vet for yearly check-ups just 6 weeks ago with no problems noted except this tooth. After watching her lose weight and become quite weak, we talked to the vet yesterday. He suggested we bring her back in for some blood work and hopefully they could discover the cause of her problems. It did not take him long to find a large mass that had apparently grown very quickly in the last few weeks and appeared to have attached itself to her ribs or spine. After a needle biopsy of the mass, he came back with bad news. Things did not look promising for Cassidy and we were faced with the tough decision to relief her pain and let her go peacefully. About ten years ago we had to do this with the family dog, Puddles, who was 17 years old. Cass was 12 and had really wormed her way into our lives and love. We were two blubbering fools as we held her and said our "good-byes." We stayed with her with gentle words and comforting contact as the injection was administered by the very caring vet. We brought here home and she is now laid to rest out back under the branches of the apple tree. We feel sure tonight she is painfree and romping around a meadow chasing after butterflies as youthful as a little kitten. Here you see our faithful Cassidy.

In this photo, taken about three years ago, she was watching baby Elizabeth as she laid on the floor playing.

Here she is on a Christmas morning a few years back when we bought she and Sammy beds we found at Sam's Club. Cass loved her bed and was there more than not.

Lastly, here she is in her favorite spot. This was a rare photo op, as Sammy seldom joined Cassidy on the hope chest basking in the sun. I know that for the coming weeks, when I go up to the bedroom and see the hope chest, it will remind me of her absence. I have put the cat bed away, as I know it will only bring tears for the coming days. She will be greatly missed around here. A stray that was rescued by Shell and then left with us when she went to NC to college, Cassidy quickly became my baby. We now will doubly enjoy Sammy and her antics as she becomes our only pet. I imagine she will miss her "sister" too and we plan on giving Sam a little extra love and attention now.

In other news here, today we got the "OK" from the county building inspector on the rough plumbing and wiring. This means we can now start insulation and drywall. Our goal is to have the upstairs bedrooms "enclosed" by next weekend so family can come to see us, especially the grand daughters. Wish us luck as we are busy little beavers getting it all done.

Tomorrow Poppy and the young fellow who did the plumbing in the new addition are going to be relocating the water heater, well stuff and water softener to their new home in the garage. This will entail a lot of work, but when they are done the new bathrooms will have water and that will be done. This is a major step towards having company, especially the pregnant daughter who will sleep in one of those new upstairs bedrooms! A toilet near is definitely necessary at 6 months with child.

Lastly, we are thrilled that our grass is coming in quite well. It will be time to run the mower over most of it soon. The weather has been very cooperative for growing these past weeks.

A Busy Week

2009-05-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

You may ask, "where have you been lately?" Can't believe it was over a week ago that I published the last post. But, the last two weeks have been very, very busy both here and at work. Grandmommy was able to pick up extra shifts and Poppy was meeting himself coming and going juggling his part time jobs. There was progress here at Loon Lake Lodge, but not near as much as we had hoped to accomplish. Between all the working, we were exhausted when we did have a few minutes here to think about tackling the wiring and work. Since Grandmommy works mostly nights, she spent way too much time sleeping the days away to catch up. But, as we close out yet another week, we do see good solid progress towards having the new space ready for summertime guests.

This was last Saturday as Poppy worked to wire lights and plugs in the upstairs bedrooms. When Grandmommy finally woke up she was able to help too, so it was fun to work together. The bathroom is about all wired and the back bedroom plugs are about done. Lights have been located in the hallway and fan/light boxes have been centered in each bedroom. Now we can wire those and continue to run wires in the other bedroom and hallway.

Here is proof that wires are ready to be connected and usable.

On Tuesday they came and hauled out the big dumpster we were so tired of looking at. Now all that remains is the work to fix the drive and yard from its mess. If you look back across the road you can see our lilac bush in full bloom and boy does that smell wonderful. Poppy brought some in for Mother's day, but they don't last long once they're cut. If you double click on this photo and enlarge it, you can see all our maple tree seeds that came down in the high winds the other night. Every spring we battle these little "whirly copters" that carry the silver maple seeds to the ground. They implant themselves all over the lawn and we always have a hardy crop of maple seedlings EVERYWHERE! If you want a silver maple tree, come visit us and you can dig up tiny saplings we will gladly give away!

The past two solid days have found us busy replacing the old breaker box with a new one providing more space for additional circuits. This ended up being a much more time consuming job than first anticipated. Luckily Poppy had two full days with no daytime work and was able to work non-stop. And work non-stop he did! Yesterday morning he turned off the main power supply and unhooked all the lines and there were wires sticking out all over this corner of the utility room. I should have taken a photo of it yesterday for the "before" and "after" look. This shows what it looks like tonight, all wires tucked in and connected properly. There are just three circuits yet to attach, as Poppy needed to get more of the new tandem breakers this box will accommodate. With this new, bigger capacity we can now start running the new circuits from the new rooms down to hook into power.

Here is the front view of the breaker box as seen in the garage. He is very proud of the neatness of his wiring and just the fact that it is finally done. Those huge cables coming up from the main feed are very difficult to work with and are at least as big as a man's thumb in diameter and very stiff. Cutting them, stripping them and connecting in took a lot of work by Poppy and the neighbor guy. Hope he never has to undo that again. The wires sticking up from the bottom and not hooked in are the wires we ran from underground to hook the back garage circuits up eventually. I know how thankful Poppy is to have this job done! Now we can really move forward!

The past week and a half have been pretty good growing conditions here at Loon Lake. We could have used a bit more sunshine, but as you can see, we have a nice crop of grass emerging from the straw. We are very excited to see this, as a summer of mud was not our desire.

The front yard is looking the best, but we are sure the back will catch up with a few more days of sunshine and warmer temps. We have had plenty of rain and are looking for more tonight. I am hoping we can get out and buy some flowers this weekend to plant and brighten up the front deck.

We look forward to three more full days of working together and hope that next week as soon as possible we can get the county inspector out to give us the "A-OK" on our electrical work. Then we can move on with insulation and drywall! Hopefully it won't be another week and a half before I have more good progress to report. Have a wonderful weekend where ever you are and know we hope to have you here to share our new space sometime very soon!

Busy Outdoors!

2009-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed with some wonderful weather for the past week or so. The dirt all around the new addition finally dried out and we could work on the lawn. First we had to get the wire for the back garage across the road through the pipe that was drilled under the road. This took Grandmommy's helping Poppy to first pull through fishing line, then string, then finally the wire. To get the fishing line through initially, we tied on a plastic grocery bag and sucked it through with the shop vac. Worked great and from there it was just a lot of pulling to get the string, then wire through.

The next day we took the wire through conduit and buried it on up to the foundation and through the wall to complete the process.
Here you see the little stretch of conduit coming up from underground (right next to the dryer vent). It was a time consuming task! This is outside the back service door to the new garage. Now Poppy must attach that wire under the crawl space and to the breaker box to renew power to the garage across the road. But, getting this all buried outside enabled us to complete the grading and seeding of the lawn.

Yesterday we completed the raking and prep work, then Poppy spread the starter fertilizer and the seed. We also spread two yards of mulch around various spots along the foundation in preparation for trees, shrubs and plantings. Here you see Poppy shaking out the fourth bale of straw to protect the seed.

Here is yet another shot as he spread the straw in the front corner of the lawn.

It will be so nice to have grass back out front and we are anxious to get a few plantings in as soon as we decide what trees and shrubs to plant. Although fall is the best time to plant them, so we may just wait.

This evening I caught this shot of the finished lawn all ready to grow. When I left for work this noon, Poppy was just starting to spread the five bales of straw he bought today. How did we ever think four would cover the whole area?? He has the pump working to pull water from the lake to keep it damp and we are hoping Mother Nature does not send us heavy storms, but only steady, mild rains and lots of sunshine too. You can see in these photos how trees are leafing out and the grass is really greening up. Spring has definitely sprung at Loon Lake!

Now he can move back inside and complete the wiring he has partially done. Next big project is moving the water heater, well pump and softener into their permanent places in the new garage. Then he can hook up my washer and I will be one VERY happy Grandmommy!

Spring Has Sprung!!

2009-04-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here at Loon Lake, we have taken back the lake! A week ago our neighborhood gang of friends got together early morning for the annual PPP....Pier Puttin' in Party! After a filling carry-in breakfast, many pulled on their waders and set to work putting in piers and boat lifts. Helping some of the single and widow gals, as well as elderly, this is a fun day of "many hands make light work." A total of seven piers and three boat lifts were done by noon. The morning was kicked off with a "toast" with coffee mugs to Mother Nature, "We are taking back our lake!" Here you see that we are ready for summer fun. By the time the PPP had concluded and everyone returned to their own home, our neighbor and Poppy got busy pulling our boats from his storage barn and launching each as quickly as possible. We have had a couple pontoon cruises around the lake and it feels awfully good again!

In other progress, this week the contractor finished up his share of the project. Yesterday they finished siding the north end and loaded all their tools and ladders up for the final time. They got the gutters run another morning and Poppy has been busy dragging the dirt to try to prepare for planting a new lawn where it has all been torn up. He has a bit more hand raking and final grading before planting seed, but he is quite close. We are really looking forward to getting some landscaping in, as we love plantings and adding interest with color and the height trees and shrubs can provide.

With the boxes of siding used and out of the garage, things are pushed to one side and you can see he quickly pulled his lawn tractor in to his new garage. The car won't fit yet because of a big pile of drywall waiting to be installed.

Last Sunday we tore out where the opening was boarded up at demolition and put a temporary door from the kitchen into the new utility room. We can now access the new section without going outside and around. Using the old back door which is insulated, we are very happy for this added ease. Poppy has been busy getting the utility room wired and ready for use. You can see here, today he got the lighting finalized and we now can hit a switch and have light! Great job Poppy!

He has the power all wired for the dryer (220) and the washer, as well as plugs. Tomorrow he plans on getting the dryer vent finalized, then we will be just one major step away from having access for my washer and dryer again. The major step is relocating the water heater, well pump and water softener to their permanent locations in the garage. The plumbing is all ready for that, just need the muscle to move it and know-how to hook it all up. We will go ahead and set up the washer and dryer before we even insulate, drywall, or get flooring down, as we can move around them to do that. Getting back to doing laundry at home is paramount in Grandmommy's plan!

Here are few shots of the final outcome of our addition as boaters see it from the lake. We are very pleased and also eager to finish up with siding the old part so it is all the same color and the exterior is done.

However, we are very patient and this will all come together in due time. We got GG (Grandmommy's Mom) back from Florida this week so she is near and was so pleased to see our project in person. Although changes might not seem as huge and apparent, I will continue to follow our progress here in blog land as Loon Lake Lodge continues to evolve. Keep stopping back for glimpses into our spring and summer fun and work. We hope all of you will come visit real soon. In fact, hopefully in another month or so we will have rooms for you to stay in!

Update on Progress

2009-04-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well, the day after my last posting, we finally got the power moved to its permanent location. On the 8th they came out to trench and drill for the underground power lines. Here you see them drilling 100' under the road to supply the back garage with power. The lines that used to run overhead across the road from pole to pole were actually illegal from the power company's viewpoint. This was how it had been when we became the owners five years ago. Poppy also wanted more circuits for the back garage, so we needed to upgrade the power supply eventually anyway. It was quite interesting watching them bore under the road.

They used an instrument that could follow the head of the drill as it bore underground and through the yard. The direction of the lines were taken right to the corner of the garage where wires can now come up to enter the garage.

This long flexible pipe was then pulled back through the drilled opening to carry the lines under the road. Now the work to actually run the lines and attach to the current garage power will be done eventually by Poppy and friends.

While they were working with trenching and boring, Jeff and Tony were busy setting the new meter base on the back of the garage. Then they dismantled

the temporary power pole.

The next day the big guns with the power company came to cut the power, put up a whole new unit on the power pole and run the conduit down to the ground. I was amazed how easy they made it look.

I would definitely not want to be up in that bucket maneuvering myself under and over hot power lines to work with this. That day I was home with no power for 12 hours. It was turned off at 7:30 am and after the guys worked hard to move the breaker box to its new permanent location and run the lines from the meter box to the breaker box, it was 7:30 pm before power was restored. That was one LONG day and I would not make it as a pioneer with no electricity. It was boring and nonproductive.

That afternoon Jeff's brother arrived to do more grading of the yard. Here he was scraping off the gravel in preparation for the cement driveway pad. Unfortunately, the ground was still quite wet, so it may take one more visit for him to get the final grade perfected.

Now, fast forward a week to today. The driveway pad was poured, as well as a small stoop outside the service door on the back side of this garage. You can see in this photo, last weekend Poppy got the new coach lights hung outside the garage. So things are shaping up quite nicely.

I imagine tomorrow they will get the back side completely done also. This will finish up the siding and we will have a finished exterior. A very welcome sight after all the waiting over these past five months.

Today the sun was out for a beautiful spring day after several dreary, rainy, cool days. It was wonderful to get outside and enjoy the beauty of spring. Here are those daffodils I caught peeking out just a month ago today. You can also see the hostas that are up almost 6" and ready to unfold and look beautiful along the front walk. Saturday our neighborhood friends will hold their annual "PPP" which stands for Pier Putting in Party! This is a tradition when we gather for an early breakfast and then men don their waders and help put in piers for many elderly couples, single gals and also share in getting each others piers in as well. This is repeated in the fall, but the PPP stands for Pier Pulling out Party. Such fun and we feel blessed to be a part of such a wonderful circle of friends. The best part about the PPP, that means boats will soon be launched. This means our enjoyment of watching the loons', buffleheads' and grebes' brief spring stopovers on our lake will be replaced with evening pontoon cruises as friends enjoy cocktail hour on the lake, circling around like the parade of water fowl that preceded them.

What Have We Been Up To?

2009-04-07T17:23:00.001-07:00

We have been suffering through one more tiny bout of winter-like weather the past several days. Why does it seem so very, very cold? If we had a day like today in mid-January, we would think it was a real reprieve. It's easy to get used to the warmer temps and sunshine. Sunday night we had heavy snow showers with a slight accumulation when we woke up on Monday morning. The wind has been nasty, but at least it helped to dry everything up, as the snow was preceded by heavy rain for one full day.

But, we continue to see progress on Loon Lake Lodge. The garage door was installed last Friday and we love what we chose. Now the contractor is just waiting on the weather to cooperate so the site can be graded and the driveway apron poured eventually.

We are also in a waiting game with the power company, who has been out to hear what we need, but is taking their sweet old time getting back. They need to relocate the electrical service to the back side of the garage so we can move the breaker box from its temporary location to the garage. The power company must relocate the electric meter and service from the temporary pole. Then once that is done, they can side the north side of the addition. Today they worked a bit on the trim along the eves, but the wind was very difficult to battle on their high ladders.

In the mean time, Poppy has been very busy inside. The plumber and he finished up all that installation yesterday. Here you see the mana block where all the pex water lines are attached. This is in the wall cavity between our master walk-in closet and the garage wall. From the garage side you see the lines plumbed out for connecting the water heater and water softener, which will sit in the garage when they are finally moved to their new locations.

Poppy found working with the pex system a great experience in contrast to copper pipes and all the sweating and soldering of connections. This is definitely the way to go.

This view is looking between the studs at the BACK side of the wall which will be behind our master bath vanity. You can see the drain piles (PVC) and the pex water lines for each of the two sinks. Red represents hot water lines and blue the cold. The white is just generic and can be either. The lines running upward supply the upstairs bathroom. Each sink, toilet and tub/shower is stubbed out with a copper connection ready for installation of each fixture. But that will all happen AFTER the drywall goes up.

Lastly, Poppy has begun to plan for all the electrical work. He has started placing electrical boxes for recepticals and we have hung several can lights. Here you see the can lights in the two bedroom closets upstairs. There is so much work to be done, but when we look back at the photos from four months ago, they were just pouring foundations. So, we have come a long way and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Another Day's Accomplishment

2009-04-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

Here is the finished front side of the house. Now we just have to remove that tiny window under the porch behind the grill and we can side the front porch to match. That will look a lot better. But, all in due time.

Tomorrow the garage door will be installed and the plumbing should be finished up. Things are coming along so great!

Today Grandmommy had a fun day of shopping in Shipshewana, where three of us gals had a ball looking in each and every store. A great lunch and a wonderful time of fellowship with friends, who can ask for a better day? Plus, the weather held out with no rain and warmer temps than expected.

More Wonderful Progress

2009-04-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Before expounding on all the great progress this week, I must show you how the back of the house looks with the siding complete. Isn't it looking great?? We love the color and have had several compliments, which makes us feel wonderful. Now I know Poppy is just itching to landscape, as we are firm believers in "curb appeal" and how much value there is in a well landscaped home. But, that will be down the road a bit I am sure.

After today we have the front side almost totally sided also. By tomorrow this should be complete if the weather holds out. Our forecast is for rain off and on the next several days. Guess that is to be expected in April.

As the contractor and his assistant have been busy siding, Poppy and the plumber have been busy inside. We are probably half way complete with the plumbing of the new addition. All three toilets are ready to be set and here in the upstairs bathroom, the tub is all plumbed to drain. Next will come the water lines and installing the faucets and shower head.

I am excited, as we have made room in this upstairs bathroom to install my small washer I had in the basement while this was just our lake place. This will be reserved for all the felting I do with my knitting habit. What a guy Poppy was to agree to make room for this extra. My great Whirlpool Duet front loader washer and dryer will go in my main floor utility room off the kitchen, which I CAN'T WAIT to have back in use!

Seeing all the drain pipes and vent pipes installed made Poppy very happy, as he admitted it would have taken him three or four times longer to accomplish all this. The professionals make it all look so easy!

Today the phone company came and relocated the phone lines. Next the electric company will be out to relocate the power from the temporary power pole to the back side of the garage with the meter. Then our breaker box will be moved to its permanent spot in the garage. This must be done before they can finish up with siding all the way up on the long north side of the house. Again, hopefully the weather will provide windows of opportunity for all of these tasks.

A Glimpse of One ALMOST Completed Side

2009-03-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

As I sit to write here on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I am reminded that we still live in the midwest. Although there are buds on the maple trees out front and my daffodils are at least 6" high with buds just poised to pop open and hosta buds pushing their way through the mulch....I am looking out on steady, fine snow flurries. But, if you have lived very long in this neck of the woods, you know that with March Madness comes not only very spring-like weather, but also our last attempt as winter rears its ugly head one more time.

But, without further ado I am thrilled to share these shots of the ALMOST finished garage side of our new addition. These were taken yesterday, a very cloudy day and the siding appears more gray that green with no sunshine. But, you can see they have finished from the ground up and all we need now is the garage door installation, slated to happen this week.

We are happy to see that the siding has brought the enormous look of the new section down to a more reasonable looking size. The frieze board, a 12" wide band of white wood grain composite board cuts the height just as we hoped it would. We are anxious to see if the vast length of the north side of the addition looks a bit smaller once the siding is finished. So much thought has gone into this whole project and we are so pleased with our choice of contractor and his conscientious work ethic. Thanks Jeff!

This weekend has been fun. Although I worked the past two nights, we enjoyed social times both Friday and Saturday evenings. In lieu of our usual Friday night euchre gathering with neighbors, we all met at a local pizza place for dinner, and once their crowd thinned out, we played some cards right there. Then, last night we attended a euchre night with another group of lake residents, lots of great food and fellowship. Plus, Grandmommy and her partner Stickman (a very jovial fellow nicknamed for his willowy stature) were top winners for the evening. I came away with a whooping $10!

Of course, the big talk of both evenings revolved around the "loon sightings". With this time of year, we are thrilled by seeing the return of the loons on their migrational trip through the area. Loons are such interesting birds, floating there one minute and gone the next, diving down and coming up quite a distance away. Poppy was able to catch a few excellent photos of this particular fellow on Friday. They don't stick around long, as much action on the lake will scare them off quickly. We just enjoy spotting them so much and know this is a sure sign that spring is here!

Watching the loons, as well as any water fowl on the lake, I am always reminded of the truth of life. They all look so cool and calm floating and swimming along, hardly a ripple of water disturbed. Yet, if we could focus an underwater video camera on their bottom side, we would see their legs paddling frantically to get through each day. Don't we all feel that way sometimes?

I know Poppy feels the pressure of finally getting his chance to dig in knee deep with this project, as he will start tomorrow afternoon with the a young man to begin installing all the plumbing in the new addition. Then will come the electrical wiring and installation. All this along with juggling a couple part time jobs and trying to find enough time for sleeping and eating. I'll have to come up with some good meals to keep him fueled up enough.

Have a great week ahead and don't forget to fool someone on Wednesday!

Another Week Closer to Finished

2009-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Although we have MANY, MANY weeks before this is all really finished and complete, the outside is coming closer and closer to being done. This past week we saw great progress. The weather really cooperated, although today it was quite windy, which was not appreciated as they hung siding. Here is the photo journal of progress this week.

A week ago today found Poppy doing some of the extras he wanted done. He sealed all the windows with a special tape.

Finally, the guys got the last two windows installed. How they carried this one up the ladder I will never understand. Of course, I do not climb ladders above about three steps, and then I don't even like to do that!

As the contractor worked, the heating and AC fellows were also busy installing duct work and preparing for our new system. They even delivered the new geo-thermal furnace, which will be installed eventually.

They got around to altering the porch overhang out front, as it was hanging over the bedroom window. Now it gives us an even clearer view from inside and looks very nice.

Just an extra stuck in here. Grandmommy celebrated a birthday this past weekend, and received these beautiful flowers from Shell and Richard. What a treat!! They are so springy!

Today it was wonderful to finally see the siding begin. They have worked for two days as they worked on brick mold around garage doors and trimming out the overhangs. Notice the service doors have been installed in the garage. We took forever to decide on a siding color and are very, very happy with our chosen shade.

We especially like the wide white trim around the windows and at corners. The color is a greenish gray, or you might call it a grayish green. The manufacturer's name is Quiet Willow. Things are REALLY taking shape! Hopefully the wind will calm down and we don't get too much rain so they can continue getting the siding up.

A Beautiful Spring Day

2009-03-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

I must start this entry with a look back to September. Somehow I failed to highlight the day the silver maple was removed to make room for our addition. These photos remind me of what a wonderful, long-lasting autumn we had, as look how green everything still was at the end of September.

These first shots show the end of the first day after one "fork" of the tree came down.

The next day they made very quick work getting the rest of the tree down. High up in the bucket we were amazed how this fellow used the chain saw as well as directed the fall of the large heavy logs he was dropping.

He made very quick work of this last section of the trunk and before long...

...all we had left was a stump and a nice pile of logs to cut up for firewood. The rest of the wood was chipped up or taken by our neighbor. We only wanted to deal with the smaller pieces. However, that weekend we quickly realized we had way more wood here and it took much longer to cut it into smaller pieces and haul to the back lot.

Now, fast forward back to present day. Yesterday we made a trip into town to rent a stump grinder. Here Poppy gets started at removing the stump.

It made pretty fast work of eating away the wood. I tried to help by shoveling the saw dust out of the way.

Within a couple hours only a hole was left. This morning he worked a bit more to be sure no stump would get in the way of leveling off the ground and preparing for the driveway.

Now we have lots of dirt, which will be a lot of mud and mess this spring. This shows how the pile of dirt in the front yard was leveled out to dry a bit.

They trenched out to put drain tiles out to the lake and the bobcat continued to move around the dirt. The dirt there on the north side of the house was still even frozen in the middle. It will take another day for finalizing grading the yard, as it was too wet for them to work with it a lot.

While I was out enjoying some of the sunshine and 60 degree weather, I caught this shot of my daffodils peeking through the mulch. I love this sign of spring, they are one of my favorite flowers!

Our First House Guest!

2009-03-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

This week has brought some unusual things around Loon Lake Lodge. Torrential rains, very high winds and our first house guest. The other day Poppy thought we had a bird in the new addition and low and behold he was right! Yesterday the contractor found this beautiful fellow perched where he could watch their every move. I even thought I heard him hoot a bit. I checked in our bird identification book and believe this is a screech owl. This photo does not really do him justice, as the markings were just gorgeous. The way I figured, we surely would not have any problems with mice with this guy hanging around. However, today he was gone, or maybe well concealed in another corner. We found no signs of him anywhere. If you double click on the photos, they should enlarge to full screen and you can see this little guy a bit closer.

This past weekend we had over three inches of rain, as well as winds as high as 40 mph. Last night it poured more and the lake is up at least 12". Here you can see our shoreline encroaching on the lawn. The rocks that form the seawall are totally under water. Hopefully it will recede soon and things begin to dry out.

Today they worked to remove the old wall under the porch where the new will meet up with the existing structure. To do this, they had to tear out a bunch of the old and then reframe the wall. Tomorrow Poppy can keep a nice bonfire burning to warm them as they work, this old dry wood puts out great heat!

Here is the view from inside the bedroom once it was all opened up. The opening to the right is the doorway into the bedroom.

Lastly the OSB went on and now it is all ready for the siding next week! Eventually the small window that used to be in the bathroom and is now in the closet, will be replaced with one the size of those opposite the patio door.

Here is the view from inside. Tomorrow they will install the window to complete the bedroom. This will allow us a wonderful view down the length of the lake.

Poppy is busy preparing for all the work that lies ahead for him. Tomorrow dry wall will be delivered before the last window is installed upstairs in the back bedroom. They will "boom" the drywall in through that window and it will be ready to hang in the upstairs. They will also leave us a large pile in the master bedroom and that will really save us from hauling it inside later. He has also been working on finalizing the list of plumbing needs so he is ready to begin that job. For Poppy, the work is just beginning! Next week all the dirt should be leveled off and regraded, as well as siding should be here to hang. Big changes should be coming soon! Keep stopping by to see what's new!

March Progress

2009-03-05T14:53:00.001-08:00

This week March arrived a bit like a lion with very cold temps and wind. At least we did not have any more snow. The contractor and his crew were able to work most of the week and are really buttoning up our new addition. Today the house wrap went on despite some stiff winds. You can also see in this view that the old and new have smoothly been attached at the roof line. They still need to work on transition from old to new on the front where the porch overhang will be modified to give a clear look out the window from the bedroom.

We were glad to see the clouds clear this afternoon and the sun break out, bringing temps up into the low 60's. It was fun to see the ice breaking up and winds from the south pushing ice flows down the lake. There is now flowing water from the shore out to about the length of the pier.

Here you see how the front elevation will look from the pontoons as they cruise past. We are throwing around many ideas on how to break the height of the new front with various siding and color options.

Poppy was even part of the crew today, as he helped wrap the windows. He loves having his part in the building. He had to go drive a school bus, and when he came home they had started installing windows!

They have the window in the master bath and north side of the bedroom, as well as the garage and these in the front of bedroom.

Although a bit dark, here is the view we will have from the bedroom to enjoy the lake, the sunrises and the big full moons as they come up over the opposite shore.

I imagine tomorrow they will get the rest of the windows in and finish off the house wrap. Maybe it won't be quite so windy! But, it IS March!

Under Roof!

2009-02-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

This week has been very busy for our contractor! They put in two very long days to be prepared for today. The roofers were scheduled, so they were a bit behind the eight ball. On Monday it was quite chilly, but it did not keep them from stringing the rafters and roof trusses over the master bedroom section to the front of the addition. You can see the beautiful blue sky, and the sun was out, but it was definitely still winter!

I like this view Poppy caught, looking from the hallway upstairs out towards the lake. You would never have caught me out there high on the ladder 21' above the floor of the bedroom.

By late in the day, they were ready to begin covering this framing with sheathing.

You can tell by the long shadows the setting sun cast, they finished out a very long day by covering the dormer roofs and began cutting eve length and adding the facia boards.

Then fast forward about 24 hours. On Tuesday they got all that sheathing covering the roof, cut all the eve edges and added facia boards along the gutter lines. They worked right up until night-fall and lost their light to finish the last section.

But, not to worry, they were out there bright and early today, hammering away at 7 am! That was good, because by 8 the roofing crew arrived. After hauling out all their tools and air hoses, the crew of four were on the roof running around like a bunch of monkeys. It was amazing how fast they worked. Each guy had his responsibility and you could tell they were used to working together very efficiently as a team.

By about 8:30 the truck arrived to boom the pallets of shingles up to the roof. They were about ready to start laying shingles, as they already had all the drip edging on and the tar paper down on most of the surface.

By about 2:30 in the afternoon I looked out and they were packing up to leave. What an efficient crew, no time was wasted. We now have a roof over our heads!

The contractor and his assistant took today to do a few easy jobs. They had worked way too hard on Monday & Tuesday! So, when the roofers left, they did just a few things, including cutting out the window openings in preparation for window installation.

We will have a nice double casement window in our bedroom overlooking the deck and giving us a view down the length of the lake to the south. Eventually they will be redoing the deck overhang so it does not hang down in the way of this window. So many details!

Here I caught an action shot. If you look closely, you can see the contractor inside with the saw removing the rest of the OSB covering the window that will be above the whirlpool tub in the master bath. (If you double click on the photos, they should enlarge for better viewing. Then, click the "back" button to return to the blog.)

Here is a view of the north side of the addition. The window to the front is in the master bedroom and the skinny one up higher is the one above the tub. Then there is the service door to the garage further back.

We are very excited to see this all come together. They are calling for possible rain tomorrow, so they can work inside finishing up the framing and be able to stay dry under the finished roof. Next big events will be installing the windows, moving all the extra dirt around and excavating the lot, and finally siding. It won't be long now and it will be ready for Poppy to get to the inside work of wiring and plumbing! He sure will be keeping plenty busy!!

Fighting the Elements!

2009-02-22T14:03:00.001-08:00

This past week has been rather frustrating for the contractor. They were able to work Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday brought heavy rain and Thursday high winds and threatening snow off and on. Finally Friday they returned bright and early, but it was very cold. After putting in a full day, they had most of the roof sheeting over what they had framed up and the dormers were taking shape. They have yet to get rafters and framing above our bedroom section to the front, but that will happen this coming week.

The shed dormer off the north side will give the front upstairs bedroom lots of light and air with a double casement window.

Over the garage on the south side of the addition, dormers will add dimension and style to the roof line. I want Poppy to build window seats in these dormer nooks so one can snuggle up with a book and relax in the sunshine coming in the window.

They have sheeting over the dormers now too, but it has been too nasty of a weekend to get out and take photos of it for the blog. If I had a photo of today, you would see about an inch of snow laying on the roof!

The contractor hopes to have the roof ready for shingles by the end of this coming week so he can call in the roofing crew. That will really button it up weather tight and then they will get windows in for a sealed up structure. That will be an exciting time to look forward to! Keep watching here for further progress. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Movin' On UP!!

2009-02-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well, things are really coming along this past week. Despite very heavy winds and a day of yucky rain, the sun has prevailed the beginning and end of the week and progress has been made. As I write this, the contractor and his assistant are packing up to call it a day. I will be anxious to go back outside to see what it looks like now, as I think they have installed many more rafters to form the roof line over the upstairs bedrooms. Here you see the stairway that was completed a week ago. This allowed them to get up to floor the 2nd story and begin framing.

This is what we had after Monday! This window will look out the north side of the house from the front bedroom. This is where the grand children will have their own space. The opening on the lower level will be a service door into the garage. Other lower level windows have not been cut out yet.

Today it really fell into shape as they began running rafters. This shows the road side above the garage where the window will give light and breeze to the back bedroom upstairs. The windows on the lower level to the road side are in the garage.

Here is another angle, looking at the dormers above the garage. The dormer to the left is part of the back bedroom for cross breeze on those warm summer nights and the dormer on the right is in the hallway across from the front bedroom door.

And, finally for all those interested in what Grandmommy has been up to all week, here is the beginning of a new sweater I started. This is the back section starting from the bottom up. My first experience with cables and I love it. A nice bulky yarn with size 11 needles, which will mean it will go quite fast. Now Shell needs to get busy making my big ceramic buttons in her pottery shop to adorn the front of this v-neck cardigan. Maybe once it is done I can post a photo of me modeling it! In the mean time, I will enjoy the end of these winter months knitting away as they hammer and saw outside.

Have a great weekend everybody! Happy Valentines Day!

Making Positive Progress....FINALLY!!

2009-02-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

OK, it was finally time for things to turn the corner and begin rebuilding! It was the very beginning of December and now we were really battling the winter weather. But, the guys showed up bundled in their insulated jumpsuits and worked as much as they could. It was really too bad they did not start the first of October like originally planned. The excavating guys returned and knocked in the old cement block foundation in order to dig the new crawl space footage and footers for the new foundation.

Within a week they were pouring the footers and completing the crawl space floor. Since part of the crawl space floor was the original basement floor, our contractor decided to make it all a cement floor, which will be really nice in the long run. A sump pit was buried and the cement pros got to work. This was then covered with insulated cement blankets and left to cure. Nothing happened over the holidays and we tried to be very patient.

By the first of the year, the cement guys were busy again. They set all the forms for the foundation and poured them the next day. Now the waiting game again, as we waited for them to set up firm.

Poppy was able to get in a few days later when the forms were removed and put the foam insulation sheets up inside the crawl space foundation.

Then, about a week later we were in mid-January and they started to set the floor joists. This was really exciting to see lumber finally making our dream take form.

The following week they had all the flooring down and started framing walls. It was bitter cold, but it did not stop the contractor and his crew. They were as ready to make progress as we were.

At the end of that first day of framing, Grandmommy just HAD to go out and see if they would let her hammer a few nails. From all my experience with building for Habitat for Humanity, I knew I could do this too. But, I must be out of shape, as one and half nails was all I could handle. Could it have been the frigid temps?

By the end of the next day, they had the living area of the first floor totally framed. This will be our new master suite (bedroom, bath and walk-in closet) as well as a half bath and utility room.

We are most excited about the wonderful view we will have out those nice big windows looking out on the lake from our bedroom! The full moon rises over the lake from the opposite shore, won't that be beautiful on a clear warm night? Not to mention the sunrises in the morning!

As January wore down, they were finally able to thaw out the large pile of dirt frozen in the middle of the garage foundation. This was necessary to be able to pour the garage floor. They finally got a day above freezing, a short window of opportunity to get this job done. They worked until after dark to prepare and lay the forms and bury the garage drain. They were all ready the next morning when they came with the cement trucks to pour that floor.

Then the snows returned. We had about eight inches and Poppy found himself shoveling out our new bedroom and bath!

After the garage floor had set for almost a week, it was finally deemed ready to begin framing the garage walls. Poppy was happy, as having an attached garage was one of his biggest desires in all this planning. So, he was right out there helping hold the I beams as they tied together the garage walls with the 2nd floor joists.

It was all really taking shape!

The Old Comes Down

2009-02-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

When we finally got the OK from the contractor, we began to demolish the two small bedrooms that were above the basement section of the house. Grandmommy would do what she could removing trim boards when Poppy was away at work and together we would tackle the paneling and demo of the ceilings. After a few days the two small rooms became one bare cavern, ready for the walls and roof to come down.But, before we could expose the basement to the elements, the breaker box, water heater and well pump had to be relocated. We removed the stairway that had led to the bedrooms. This location soon became home to the water heater and well pump.

Then the contractor and his crew arrived to help Poppy "take down those walls!" First came the roof, which we left to the professionals.

Next came the walls and we quickly had just a mass of rubble on the groud around what used to be the north end of the house.

When that weekend arrived, we worked together to clear out the mess and fill the dumpster. A large bonfire ate up most of the wood and Grandmommy saw to keeping the "home fires" burning.

The following Monday they returned to finish off the demo job. The flooring came off leaving just the basement foundation. It was getting quite cold too, so the fire to burn up the wood was a welcome place to stand to warm your hands and feet.

By this time it was December 2.

2008 Brought So Many Changes!

2009-01-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

Early 2008 brought many changes to our lives. Job changes forced us to simplify our lives and consolidate to just one home. This started with packing at our new home we had just moved into August 2007. Then, when we started moving boxes to the lake, we soon realized we must really purge more and try to find space for storage. The area that had been an old bathroom quickly became a brainstorm for Poppy. In early March we spent a lot of time at the lake. We framed old bathroom area into a small walk-in closet. This would afford us very valuable storage space.

While there in the early spring, we were also blessed with the arrival of the loons who are so rare. What fun to spot them on the lake and a second later they are gone, submerged to come up yards away.

By April first we had sold and closed on our new house and moved to Loon Lake. We lived with many boxes as we decided what to keep and what should go. We were wall to wall furniture and still working around the drywall that needed to go on the lodge room ceiling. By leaning the drywall against the walls, we could finally have a bit more space.

Let me tell you, those first few months were a bit trying! But, soon the closet was done and we had room for a lot of much-needed storage.

By late spring, we had settled in quite nicely and found a place for most everything. A lot was sold or given away and the garage was bursting at its seams. We enjoyed the summer months with GG living with us due to Bapa's death the end of May. She got used to our "projects" as we continued to work on our work in progress. In mid-July Poppy took a week off and we tackled the dry wall on the lodge room ceiling. We got very good at measuring and cutting the location of each can light hole. This was a VERY good thing and by end of July when we held Bapa's Memorial Service and family reunion here afterwards, it looked a bit more "put together." HA!

As fall approached, we desperately wanted to get our new Anderson windows and patio door in the front wall of the lodge room. Finally we got a warm enough day to tackle that big job. The contractor came to help and they took out the old, reframed the whole wall and readied it for the new windows and door. That was all in one afternoon. As night fell, Grandmommy realized that the OSB put up to close the wall was going to be all we had to look at until another nice warm fall day. UGH! It was so dark in the room and air infiltrated all the cracks and edges. Brrr...Finally a month later in mid-November we had another sunny, warmer day and they arrived to install the new. What a difference this made on our outlook. The new door and windows give us such a transformed view of the lake. Love it!

Stay tuned....next episode will be the demolition of the north third of Loon Lake Lodge! What a work-filled autumn we had!

A Very Important 2007 Happening!

2009-01-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

After I finished the last post, I realized I had omitted one of the most important things that happened in 2007. In early August, the family welcomed a new addition. Kate was only a few weeks old when she made her first trip to Loon Lake Lodge. While here, she had her first pontoon ride.
She also was the co-guest of honor at a birthday party for her Great Grandma. What fun that she arrived in time to experience the lake before the season ended.

Here she is a few months later when her bubbly personality started to emerge. What a joy she is!

2007 Offers More Time to Relax!

2009-01-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

The year of 2007 allowed us some reprieve from all the nonstop work at Loon Lake Lodge. We were able to just sit back and relax and enjoy the lake much more.

The only major project was reroofing the garage out back. On Memorial Day weekend our "young crew" came up for their yearly lake visit. This is our daughter, son-in-law and their good friends. On this particular visit, the guys volunteered to help Poppy get started on this big task. Within just a couple weeks Poppy was then able to get the roof reshingled and it turned out great! Thanks again guys!

I think the reason we were not so involved with projects at the lake, we were busy overseeing our new home being built in the Indy area. We did travel to the lake every weekend, but we spent each evening during the week going to see what they had accomplished on our new home as it progressed. Little did we know we would only call this lovely place home for six months. But, we loved the whole process and enjoyed decorating and being there for a short while, not to mention all the wonderful friends we made in those neighbors.

On the weekends it was fun watching Elizabeth grow and come to love being at Grandmommy and Poppy's lake. She loved to "help" mow the lawn and tackled the lake on her own terms. Just beware, don't drop her "eyes" (sunglasses) in the water!

Elizabeth sports her "eyes" to protect from the bright sunshine.

As 2007 came to a close, we made a December visit to the lake. On that weekend we enjoyed the very, very quiet night as snow fell and blew into a winter wonderland overnight. We woke to this sight and we happy we could still get out to head home after our visit. Although we have had quite a winter this year, we have yet to see this much snow and drifting in one night again.

June thru October 2006 - The Work Continues!

2009-01-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Back to the progress that led to where we are today. 2006 was one of the busiest in transforming Loon Lake Lodge. June found us busy inside and out! We worked hard to frame out the skylight shafts to be ready for drywall. Poppy also worked long hours on wiring all the new lights. It took quite a bit of thougth and planning to figure out just where we wanted to position the can lights. We even moved some of them several times until we were sure they were perfectly placed.

Outside Poppy put many hours into improving the lawn and landscaping. But most importantly, he was busy building the new front porch deck. This has become the place we spend most of our time and we love it. Built to last, from the foundation up, it was a long labor of love!

One other important aspect of 2006 was to introduce Elizabeth to the lake! She loved it!!

When summer started to wind down, we were back inside removing the oldest of the bathrooms. This was a long, dirty day. Poppy spent time under the crawl space unhooking plumbing and the old tub was still stuck somehow. It took a chain hoist to eventually lift it off the floor and loose from its drain. Luckily there were neighbors around who helped carry it out of the house, but it took six of them! A few days later we learned we could break the tub up with a sledge hammer and all the pent up aggrevation the whole project created.

As summer wound down, Poppy got the can lights wired on the porch, as well as two ceiling fans, which were hung the next spring. Finally in October we were busy insulating in preparation for the coming winter. So much had been accomplished since we bought the house. But, we knew there was still so very, very much yet to accomplish to have it as we dream about. Not shown in any of these photos is the pile of drywall that was purchased in August in hopes of having that ceiling all complete before winter. Little did we know it would not be hung until the summer of 2008! How many times did we move that large, heavy pile of drywall in three years? Don't ask Grandmommy!! But, we will tell you, all this work has been well worth it!

Jumping Ahead to this Week's Progress

2009-01-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

OK, I have tried to begin at the beginning and run you through our project in chronological order. But, what is happening this week is just too exciting! We have family and friends who really want to see things take shape and so we are jumping ahead to current-day progress. This fall we demolished one third of the house in preparation for the new addition and square footage. This area will become a first floor master suite, a half bath and a utility room leading to an attached two car garage. Two thirds of this space will be two story, so there will be two bedrooms and a full bath above the garage, utility room and bath/closet area to make room for all our family to come visit. So far, all the progress has been below ground as footers and foundation was completed. But, now we are seeing above ground progress and it is all taking shape. Here you see the first wall that was framed up yesterday.

Late in the day before the contractor left, we went out so Grandmommy herself could pound in a few nails. After working on building with Habitat for Humanity, I just wanted to say I worked on framing our house too! So, you see I was given instruction on where to nail and then I was successful in getting one and a half nails firmly planted. After curling on Sunday, my wrist was sore, so I had a little trouble. Bet they thought I was a wimp! Wait until they see me put on siding later this spring!

By the end of the day today, we really saw the structure take shape! Here is our master suite coming together. Here you would be standing in the bedroom looking towards the bath and closet beyond. The yellow ladder leaning against the studs is right where the whirlpool tub will be below that high window opening. The shower stall will be to the left of the tub and door into walk-in closet will be just beyond that. To the very left of photo where the blue ladder stands, is the doorway into the bedroom. A stairway leading to the upstairs will be right outside the bedroom door. To the back, where you see a red gas can, the left side of that area will be the utility room. Know these are details that only a few will be interested in, but this is for you Aunt Phil, Uncle Art, GG, Boz and Shell!

Then, the best view of all will be out the front of our bedroom. There will be tall windows looking out on the lake, what a view we will have! I can just see the full moons shining off the water glaring in those windows this summer!

Creating the Lodge Room

2009-01-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

The beginning of big transitions started at the very end of November in 2005. The crew came in to remove the old roof and install new scissor trusses to open up the middle section of the house. This was done in stages. They would tear off just what they could accomplish in one day, working their way across the length of the roof, starting Wednesday morning and finishing at the other end on Friday. We even had the first snow flurries of the season that week as we experienced a tiny taste of winter at the lake.

By the time we returned in January after the holidays, we found it all completed and loved the outcome. We were now ready to tackle all the changes we wanted to make on the inside the following spring.

Late April 2006 we were back to undertake one of the messiest jobs ever. When they replaced the roof, we had them leave the existing ceiling, insulation and rafters so the home would remain insulated for the winter. In the spring we had to remove the old paneled ceiling, the insulation and old rafters. What we found when cutting away the plastic vapor barrier was DIRTY old insulation and all the debris from them cutting out the old roof and rafters! It all came down on our heads as we began. We quickly devised ways to capture the debris before it came falling from the rafters. The pile of insulation on the front porch was twice the size by the time we were finished with it all. What a JOB!

It was during that week we dubbed it the "Lodge Room." With no insulation, it was quite chilly in that section of the house. One morning when Poppy came down to make his coffee, he returned to the bedroom to report "it feels like a fishing lodge down there, it is so cold!" The next day he had moved his coffee maker into the family room to avoid that chilly morning job in the kitchen. Thus our lake home was dubbed "Loon Lake Lodge."

Before our week of vacation ended, we had removed almost all of the ceiling, as well as drywall on the walls and the actual wall that closed off the kitchen. It was all so open with so much potential! We even got a warm afternoon to demolish the old front porch deck in preparation for the new deck. It was a one of the most exhausting but rewarding weeks of vacation!

Winter Fun

2009-01-18T12:34:00.001-08:00

Today we experienced some more fun of year round lake living. A frozen lake doesn't stop this group of neighbors from having a great time together. The snow is cleared off and a skating rink is created, as well as a curling court. This was our first attempt at curling. Homemade curling irons were created last winter and all the finesse of professional players can be found at Loon Lake on a sunny weekend. The temps were in the high teens with a bit of a breeze, but what better way to keep the beverages cold, eh? Bundled up against the cold it is hard to recognize folks we are used to seeing in bathing suits and flip flops. Lawn chairs come in handy for the cheering section!

Form is everything when throwing your curling iron and it's to your advantage if your partner is quick with the sweeping on the opposite end to slow your iron down or to clear the ice for more speed and distance. Here is Poppy imitating Hans Brinker, taken a week or so ago as he tested the ice.

So as you can see, although we always have plenty of work to accomplish with our remodeling, we must also live by the adage we found hanging aroud the neck of a wine bottle the first summer we enjoyed the lake...."All play and no work? Sounds like a plan!" Sometimes you just gotta take a break and have some fun. And with friends like we have here, it's just a phone call away! This same group gathers almost every Friday night at someone's home to play euchre and graze at the food brought in. Life is Good!

Summer 2005

2009-01-17T15:32:00.001-08:00

Loon Lake Lodge had gone through many changes before we became its owners. We have learned that the original "cabin" was the single story structure which comprises the middle section of the house. In fact, what is here now was built around the original cabin and then the cabin was torn down from within. Then, years later they dug the basement and built the north end of the house, which had two small bedrooms above the basement. We are pretty sure at this point they also may have added indoor plumbing and a larger kitchen. In fact, the basement contained a summer kitchen with counter space, cabinets, a range and a VERY old International Harvester refrigerator. Ask my brother just how heavy that fridge was! To Poppy's delight, the fridge held cold beer, but it was over a year old. Then, in the 90's they had built the two story addition on the south end of the house, which has a large family room and full bath on main floor and a large bedroom, closet and full bath upstairs. This upstairs bedroom has been our "tree house" as it looks out among the tree tops and we feel like part of nature as we awake to the songs of the birds on a sunny day. The inside looked a bit different before we began our renovations. This is the area that has been undergoing the most drastic changes since fall 2005. These are "before" photos with paneling and walls that are being removed.

Before major renovations began, we had plenty of time for enjoying the lake! We celebrated our daughter and son-in-law's December wedding here at the lake with a reception for family and friends. We enjoyed our pontoon boat and fishing and we entertained a group in August before we closed things up for the season.

How the Changes Began

2009-01-15T17:24:00.001-08:00

On a freakish Sunday afternoon, which lake folks refer to as the day of the "Loonami," sheer winds split the large elm tree in the front yard and dropped the top down on our roof. As you can see, it pretty much covered the entire house. Fortunately, it did not penetrate the roof at all. So, no water damage inside, just a mess outside. We knew we needed a new roof, but what a way to get one!

It extended over the entire house and drapped over the back and side of the second story roof as well. It was quite a sight to those driving by from the road side and those boating by on the lake. Even years later, folks say to us, "Oh, you were the place where the big tree fell."

The worst aspect of this dilema, we were scheduled to hold a big party as a belated wedding reception for our oldest daughter the very next Sunday. (Yes, our daughters both were married the year we bought the lake home, one in June and the other in December. It was a very big year for us!) The insurance inspector was called in and everything happened very quickly. By the following weekend all that was left of that tree was a huge stump, the only evidence of the elm that had covered the house the week before. The party went off perfectly and we loved sharing our new lake home with family and friends.

When this event prompted a new roof, we started thinking of what the future held for Loon Lake Lodge. An architect was called in and we began to dream. As you return daily to enjoy our blog, you will see what changes have been made and what is still in progress. Through all the saw dust, drywall mess, living among boxes and piles, tools everywhere and so many, many decisions; we are enjoying ever aspect of transforming Loon Lake Lodge into a place our family can make memories for years and years to come.

In the Beginning

2009-01-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

Gonna take you back to when we first bought Loon Lake Lodge. The property was in need of a lot of tender loving care. It sat empty for one whole winter and we came across it in early spring. We had been looking for a "cottage" that we could eventually fix up for a retirement home. But, did we really need a three bedroom, three bath year round home?? Were we crazy? We closed on the deal in May and started to furnish it and move in before Memorial Day weekend. That was also the year our youngest daughter got married in early June. That same weekend our oldest daughter and her boyfriend came up after the wedding to see our new lake place and help us put the pier in for the first season. We were quickly learning the ropes of owning a lake home. That was when we had lawn chairs for furniture inside and old melmac plates to eat on. But we LOVED it. That same year my folks decided to sell their home on a very large lake about 40 minutes from our new place. We "inherited" everything they did not want to move to FL so we quickly had everything we needed to furnish and set up a household - and MORE!

Seriously, what really attracted us to this home was the POTENTIAL! Also, as with all real estate, it was location, location, location. It was on a beautiful LAKE! Our lot is large, allowing future expansion if needed. We had a great beach for swimming, and we had a lot across the road with a two car garage, a shed and fruit trees! All of this makes it one of the best locations on Loon Lake.

These photos show it before any improvements. In the following days I will take you through all we have done at Loon Lake Lodge. Ya'all come back now and see how things are evolving!

Here is just a teaser!

Welcome!

2009-01-13T16:45:00.001-08:00

Well, here goes! I have been wanting to establish a blog to share all the excitement here at Loon Lake Lodge. Guess there is no time like the present. I will have to take you back a few years over the next few posts to catch you up to the current happenings here at Loon Lake Lodge. I pray all of you enjoy keeping up to date on what we are doing. Things can change pretty quickly here, and have changed quite a bit since we bought our little piece of paradise in the spring of 2004. At the current time, we have a third of our original house gone and are awaiting the framing of the new addition. We hope many of you can come enjoy the finished result sometime soon, preferably this spring or summer when life at the lake is a bit more tolerable. Temps are to drop to single digits this week and we are blanketed with several inches of snow with winds kicking up to drift it around our construction equipment and newly poured foundations. Although we love it here, winter is not the most fun living on a lake with slick county roads keeping us from the amenities of town. But, the rest of the year make up for all the winter difficulties. Plus, snow across the frozen lake is a beautiful sight when you are snuggled up warm inside.

Again, welcome and stop back often as we share the Evolution of Loon Lake Lodge.