Late Tuesday Posting........

Jean Claude, Junior

A customer picking up a portrait from my wife a few days ago said that our Button looked like her sister"s dog, Jean Claude, that she once owned.   My wife said that probably he does because that Jean Claude was Button's father. Jean Claude passed away a few years ago but he fathered three puppies of which our friend gave us one of them. Button is 16 years old now so that was a long time ago. The visitor was so surprised how Button looks so closely like his daddy. The other litter mates were different colors.  One was a brown poodle and the other was a very petite short legged all white dog. Button is white with brown ears.

 I am working in the kitchen today trying to repair a big problem.  In the old photo of an older home in Corning, Iowa you can see the kitchen at the very back left side of the house.  This house, not mine, is just exactly like my house when it was first built.  My house has the back kitchen that is about 10 by 14 feet in size.  It is like an addition, as it originally was like a summer kitchen in which the north and south doors could be opened while the old wood burning cook stove would be hot in the summer.

I don't take pictures of the kitchen on my house as it has the original siding on it from 1904. You never get to see it except with a picture of the flagstone foundation or a vine clinging to the siding. It is in bad shape and that siding is the only part of the house that I have not replaced .  The west side of the kitchen outside has the residue imprint of the old brick chimney that was there to vent smoke from the stove.  The chimney was long gone when I bought the house and the north door off the kitchen had been built in and plastered over to cover it. I found the door opening when I added on an art gallery to the north of the kitchen.  

Back to my disaster that is going on right now.  A man was at my house 30 or more years ago to work on my phone and said he had built the dining room buffet and the kitchen cupboards.  I knew they were built in by just looking at them but the ceiling of the very old room wasn't level and he didn't try to cover that up when he built all the cupboards.  

The past two years a right turn section of those cupboards seem to be settling away from the ceiling.  It is a two door width upper section and settling does come with old houses.  In the past few months not only did the cupboard settle more away from the ceiling but also it is now pulling away from the wall.  It is like the whole section had never really been attached to the wall. I had to get my car jack and lift the whole section up vertically and make it again touch the ceiling. I ended up having to put in temporary wood supports between the cupboard and counter. on the front of the cupboards, to keep them from falling forward more.  I have it all back up but now I am going to get lag bolts  to draw it back up against the wall. 

The thing about it is that you don't expect that kind of thing happening.  The past few days we noticed the one door would swing back open on its own and it was  creaking. We couldn't shut it.  That is what made me start looking up higher.  We have the dining room buffet and table covered with dishes and glasses now.  I have to go buy the bolts this evening and maybe it will be back up on the wall.  It was good that I didn't have work today as I needed the whole morning to mess with the project. 

Speaking of old things, I have started a project, working with the old 1920's group school picture.  I have been busy cropping individuals from the large group photo of all the kids at school. I am finding interesting things going on in the photos as kids are always kids when they are having there picture taken.

I am not quite sure what the end result will be but I want to create pages for people to be able to study the different students isolated away from the original photo.  I found a pair of twin girls in the photo.  I also found a little girl who must be blind standing among the group.  The behaviors I find interesting as the teenage boys are misbehaving in the back and one guy never had his face showing as he ducked behind another guy. 

Teachers back then were not much older than their senior students and it is hard to figure out who are the teachers who are the students.  

To add to the confusion of the 1920 study, I just found today a 1916 photo in the same format, long narrow shot of all of the students. I had stuffed in under the framing counter when it was given to me  many years ago. Now I have another one to scan.  

This nonwork day has been a busy one at home and this afternoon I am taking a rest.  I remember from past years that I don't get much work the days after spring break.  I can see why but sometimes things happen and a staff person does have to be gone.  

We are very cold today compared to other days and we keep getting spotty snow showers.  It looks so warm out there but a stocking hat is required once you feel the wind blowing.   Thanks for stopping by today. 

Rocks..........

During the last years that my dad was on the farm he developed an interest in rock collecting and working rocks.  Working rocks is a short explanation for cutting and polishing rocks of all sizes. He had set up a cutting and polishing area in an outside shed which he had heated in the winter time. Winters are down time for a farmer who doesn't have a large amount of livestock. He had stopped raising hogs and feeding the cattle one time a day didn't take much time.

While cleaning out the storeroom I found an old popcorn tin that was full of these rocks.  My dad's major collection sat in the garage on many shelves and my brother sold that collection out from under my mom and family after my dad had passed away.  The inside rock collection stayed in tack but my mom's unstable mind at the time was certain my brother was stealing the rocks. She may have been right about it being stolen from the inside case, I don't know, but I told her to pack it all up and I would bring it home. It is still in storage in different places in the house.

My sophomore year in college during summer break I drove with my parents to Wyoming.  An old rock hound man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. White, took us to a place in the desert where you could dig up agatized wood branches.  It was out in the middle of nowhere and was found by directions in rock hound magazines. We camped there that night.

Digging with shovels we were able to go about eight inches down in very rocky sand and find full fallen tree branches that were agate rock.  My mind thought they would be full branches but the were broken into sections like you see here.
This piece looks like it is covered with sand but it actually is all hard and agatized.

From research I found it is called Blue Forest Agate. I had not remembered the full name other than Blue.  I have found a post that tells of many digging sites in Wyoming. 

Here is the same piece with the cut my dad had made and polished to a black sheen.  The surface is so mirror like that you see the reflection of the tablecloth in the photo.

I don't have sold facts about this but petrified is a different kind of stone than this kind.

Here is another piece that shows more of a wood pattern that the above piece which is completely black.  The brown and black is great and you can see the cyst like material between the wood parts are crystal like quartz.

My dad would stand for hours polishing the stone from rough grade polishing pieces down to fine sanding material.  His final polish of rouge made the surface into a mirror.

My youngest son was the one that would take the time to look at his Grandpa's rocks so my dad always said that Aaron was to inherit the rocks.  I guess I am the temporary guardian at this point.  I have dozens of cabochons that my dad had made.  That is a unique collection of various kinds of shapes of different stones, cut and polished that my dad has picked up from the  ground as well as purchased at rock shows.

No work for me today with it being the first day of the last nine weeks. From subbing history, the teachers tend not to miss school now for awhile after spring break unless they are required to go to a workshop or have a young child sick.  I will be taking the day easy and yet use it to get some things done with this bonus free day.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday Morning........

It said on the package that they would sprout in 8 to 12 days.  The tomatoes are up already on day 5.  I had just found my plastic cover to put over them. I had misplaced it. While removing the plastic sheet that I had on them I was so surprised to see them pop up from under the sheet.

It has been windy the last couple of days.  The wind we received of course was out of the northwest and it was cold air.  We are at 13 degrees F. this morning.

I was looking in the store for something to put out for water for the birds.  I put an item in my cart and then realized I should have something already that would do the trick.  This large tray that goes under a planter will work great.  No bird will drown in my water dish.  Of course this morning it is a great ice skating rink for the birds as it was frozen.

The new cake of suet made the woodpeckers very happy. I never know which kind of suet to buy.  I did notice that one starling was not happy with one thing that was  in the cake as I saw it spit out a seed across into the  yard. He may have been just a picky eater.

It is Sunday and the official last day before school starts up again.  The forecast is for snow.  It won't be much but it does seem wrong to come back from a spring break with snow on the ground. I don't know if I will have work tomorrow or not.  I can't imagine anything keeping people from coming back from a week off unless they have a child that is sick.

 I hope you at least have sunshine like we do this morning. Thanks for stopping by today.

Spring........Not!

 

We are having the light in the days which makes it look like spring but that is all.  We are cold again and snow will be coming again on Monday.  It isn't abnormal for these spring snows.  I know it just bothers us because the winter was so long and cold. Thirties in temps is better than eleven degrees that we averaged there for a while.

While at the dining room table yesterday I could see the neighbor's white cat on an adventure.  There are a lot of birds in this tree I suppose looking for new seed heads on the branches.  The cat didn't hesitate to crawl right up into it.  I though for a while that bluejays may have a nest up there but I am not sure. This is the same cat that we sitting in the window often in the afternoon.

The higher in the tree she crawled she changed her technique of climbing.  She acted like it was a spiral staircase and walked in circles going up the tree.

This is the first photo that I took before the major climb.  I really didn't expect her to go so far up in the tree.  She sat in the window watching the birds and here you can see her looking around in the other trees at the movement of the birds.

While working in the storeroom I found the rest of my chest of drawers.  I had removed it to carry it upstairs. I am not sure why I had removed it but I removed all drawers and that back part to make it as light as possible.  I had to take a turn at the top of the stairs with a banister in the road.  I guess it made more space for the tv that sits on top of it with it not being attached.  I am going to reattach it.

I use to think that all of these decorations were hand carved on the original wood piece but they aren't what they appear.  The floret at the top was carved directly to the piece but the other parts are carved and sandied separately and then applied.  One can buy these parts, raised decorations, at the better wood stores. I bought one to put on my porch pediment and then just painted it.

The chest of drawers is a piece my mom bought at an auction at Murray, Iowa when I was still in high school.  I had learned to strip paint and stain from furniture by working on a walnut table so she thought it was time to buy some clothes storage for my bedroom.  I think she paid six dollars or less for two different pieces.

I had to do some searching but I did find the photo of the chest of drawers five years back.  I took off the original dark stain finish when it was first bought back in 1965.  I didn't have to do anything to it as it still has the good finish I put on it 49 years ago. It has its original pulls and it does have locks installed on the drawers which seems a strange practice now but back then I assume it was for safekeeping of important things. We have it in our bedroom upstairs where it gets good use. I will share the other piece at another time.  That piece has dovetail joints on its drawers that are really unusual.  No photos available at this time.






Our little Button took the outside stairs and fell this morning, so we are sitting with him right now.  He is a lot better but he must have bruised his back leg as he really cried out in pain for a while.  He is a lot better and is walking on it now. We will just hang around a longer time this morning and may head to the bookstore at Ames, Iowa.  It is next to the Iowa State campus and can be crowded but today they are probably watching basketball tournament play.  ISU actually won again last night but there best player broke an ankle last night.  Their future is in peril.  Button is better so all you animal lovers fear not.  He just doesn't see very well anymore and he we are going to have to guard him more closely when he comes back up the stairs.

Cold is the word for the day.  We will wear winter coats and sweaters again today but it is a sunny day.  Getting close to being the end of spring break.  I hope everyone is well.  Some of my friends are going to have colder weather than usual.  Some are use to it and others, who I call Tropicals, will feel colder than they were ever use to in their location.  I thank you for stopping by today.

No Frills Friday........

I was trying to find green outside and I did find a couple of things.  I did realize that our ground is still solidly frozen.  It is said that  we have 30 inches of frost right now in our soil.  That is pretty far down for this time of the year.  The creeping Charlie of course is in a green state so that when it warms up it can take off.  I was given this fountain many years back and it has remained a sculpture rather than a functioning fountain.  The moss is really tough and apparently isn't bothered with any cold temperatures.

While rearranging the storeroom and throwing things away, I found these two birds.  I bought them a number of years ago but they were put away over a Christmas season and they never returned to the living quarters of the house.  I posted them sitting in among my plants on my Photo a Day blog today.  They look like they belong in a tropical setting. 

Throwing things away and moving somethings into new locations means we can walk around in the storeroom more easily.  I have plans for three more items today to get moved out and put into use.  A very old trunk my dad found in an old house is going upstairs spare room to hold quilts.  I may line the old trunk with plastic but I was told not to store quilts in plastic bags.

 

We have older paintings in storage and I ran across this one that I had done many years ago. I created the artwork on the shores of Lake Superior.  I can see that my horizon leans a little even though that should be a flat line. I definitely needed training to do the sea gulls in oil pastel as they are not great.  It was in 1993 that I had made it. It is done in oil pastel which is a colored oily stick that you rub onto your surface.  It works good but small details like seagulls are hard to do with the material. They also melt in the sun when you set outside along a shoreline.

The location is Gooseberry Falls.  It is a State Park along the north shore where the falls are beautiful. The river flows into the lake.  Many people don't follow the road down to the shore of the lake because the falls really are that wonderful to see.  If you follow the road down you come to a large rocky area on the shore that is high above the lake with chiseled rock formations. It is one of the nicest places to visit and usually is very windy.  The area is such a large rocky  area that there are no trees so it is warm in the sunshine. You can hear waves splashing against the rocks and waterfowl is always hanging around somewhere. 

How do you date the age of cardboard?  I take apart these old frames and find cardboard in various stages of deterioration. This is the framing things of the long school house framing in which I need to replace the glass. The cardboard has strange stripping on it. The photo was taken in the 1920's but I am not sure that it wasn't framed a little later.  The design of the frame seems 60's in shape.  I will never know but I am always curious as to their history.  On frame job I worked with had square nails in it. The picture will hang in the town library once I get it completed.

Friday is the last day of my official spring break.  We both are a little under the weather but we could do something if we could get the energy up to do it.  Not being on a schedule is good but I am a little anxious with blank spaces in my day.  I will do some more to the storeroom today and finish this blog first.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Take care, all of you.

Creative Day, Maybe.........

 

I thought I might do a What is it? day but I am too tired to deal with it.  I will start off with clues as I move into the total picture. 

Did you ever have a machine that was a gyratotor that was made in Newton, Iowa in 1926. Apparently they dropped the word gyratator to agitator instead.  I am assuming before 1926 the washing women used the wash boards.  I had never thought of it before but my house was built in 1904 and it originally didn't have a basement so they had to do their laundry in the kitchen by carrying water in and out of the house.  When a basement was put in under this house, they must have immediately bought a machine and installed electricity.

Here is the total shot that I have also shared on my Photo a Day blog. My mom had a newer model that was of white enameled metal.  It was a single tub one while my wife's family had a double tub machine. One had to put the soapy clothes into clear cool water then run the clothes through the ringer with out getting you hand and arm pulled into the rollers.

A project that I shared a month ago is now being dealt with by me. I have to replace the glass on this old 1920's school photograph.  I scanned it yesterday and I am seeking clues from various cropped parts of the photo.  With photoshop I am pulling smaller shots of people in different levels in life.  I find richer kids with shoes and fancy dresses and others who are barefoot and bib overalls. I haven't had enough time to really get into all that can be discovered.  I did see there is one little girl wearing dark glasses.  I assume she has bad eyesight or is blind as sunglasses were not being sold just anywhere back then.

I will be revisiting this as I have more time to crop and study the different sets of students at the Woodward, Iowa town school.

We were saddened today to see on the news that we lost one of our former Sunday school students. My wife had Justin as a student when he was in his younger grades for a number of years in our Asian-Cambodian Ministry classes.  When he was in 5th grade he moved up to my class and was attending for a couple of years after that.  They moved away for a while so he hadn't been in my class for a year. He was such a sweet gentle person.

Justin Chey made the news locally and nationally because of his family situation.  He was caretaker for an elderly diabetic grandfather and grandmother when not in school. Grandmother had Alzheimer's disease. Justin kept the house running while his mom was at work in the evenings cooking meals for grandparents. He had grown up fast as he was such a little guy when we first met him and he then grew into this man's body by the time he reached 13 years old.  When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor the papers picked up the story and then the local tv. A lot of people came in to help the family and Justin. That is what the news covered. We are so sad that the advancement of cancer that has taken his life too soon. Those in Heaven are so pleased to greet him in and we will miss a young friend.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Wednesday's Wanderings...........

I snapped the jars in the store room a few days back and can see I have room to place a few more on the shelf.  I am inspired to go into the store room/bird room/old piano room/winter plant room and whatever else it has been and do some rearranging and cleaning.  It is nice to have a room where you can just put things and decide what to do with them later.  The problem is that I need to get in gear and decide.  I have my parents things that I just couldn't throw away that I wanted to blend in with the house.  I know the old trunk can just go upstairs and store loose photos and things that also need to be reorganized. I have a glass display case that my dad had made for displaying his polishes stones.  It isn't a great piece of furniture but I could put antique things in it.

I have a desk that was a kids college desk that I am going to put on the curb.  I know that if it doesn't get picked up by someone in town for recycle in their home that I could burn it.  I have another tall cupboard that my dad made that I could be putting things inside it if I get the other furniture things out of the way.  Spring is driving me with a lot of clear light outside so I might get things clean up in there.

It isn't a pretty display but it makes it easy for us to get to our new dishes.  I cleared out the things that filled the cubby in the kitchen and now will use these dishes with ease.  I see the Pfaltzgraff company has similar dishes for sale at Walmart.  They have a pattern of smaller flowers on their cups and plates.  They also have a pattern that is decorated with the same colors but the plates are square with squares of colors decorating the outside of the plate edge.  It might be fun to mix in a couple of smaller bowls or buy a square plate for a serving platter.

I have brought these medium sized starts out into the dining room window and away from the artificial light.  I was remarking to my wife that big stores really want to sell everything but they don't take good care of their living products.

Walmart has new violets in for sale at the spring time and they sit in bunches inside the store or outside in the greenhouse area where it is cold.  Everytime I go through the  garden area I can see the visible weakening of the potted plants as the leaves are turn brown and the flowers are shriveling from too much water or too little water. It is the same way with orchids as they come in from greenhouse in beautiful shape, they put high prices on them, and then you can see them die every time you go back to the store.

This hardy geranium has decided to bloom in the new longer days of light. It had smaller bud heads before but now they are almost normal size. I won't be able to put these guys outside until May.

This old tree in the front of our house is really a mess.  An arbor person would have a heyday trimming and correcting all of its flaws.  It keeps dropping down dead parts that lean here and there through the tree.  Age wise it has almost reached its life span for being a good looking specimen.  I have been here over 30 years and it was a big tree when I first moved to the property.  Now it has seen so many storms and grown so big that it has become a danger to my house.  I will have to remove it but not this year.








We went to see The Monuments Men yesterday and we were sure glad that we had. It was a group of art minded men during WW II, assigned to go out and try to protect or find the art works that Hitler and Stahl were stealing as fast as they could. The movie  is closing in a lot of theaters this week but it really was well done as a movie and were glad to catch it.  Some of the recreated places that the men were traveling through were the same locations that my dad had traveled as a 22 year old soldier.  The Remagen bridge area was where my dad was crossing the Rhine. He was one of the first to cross the bridge.  He could of told them about the authenticity of the tents in the snow during the battle of the bulge.  He was shipped into Belgium after that country was retaken from Germany and the artworks shown in the movie that had been stolen were already stolen from that country before he arrived.

The monuments men later found a lot of the items in salt caves scattered all over Germany, being stored for the great art museum that Hitler had planned to build.  Russians took over Germany for a while and they removed a lot of work that the Americans couldn't rescue before them. The Russians just recently, five or more years ago, started showing some of the works that they took. They have no interest in returning any of them to their owners.  In the news this past year, a German citizen had died and it was revealed that he had two apartments full of the works that he was keeping in hiding.

The one thing that fascinated me most was to see the radios that they were using in the war and shown in today's movie.  My dad was a radio man that carried one along with the leaders in charge both during battle and also out with scouts who were out in front of the battle lines.  They showed that same radio in the movie in many scenes.  It had glass tubes in it and my dad complained that they were always having to replace them as he carried it, walking most time and sometimes in a jeep.  He said that half the time the radio was down because it was too fragile to be in battle.  It was so great to finally see that radio that I had heard about 55 years ago when I was a kid.

Another spring break day and the day is a non planned day. We will rest, do odd jobs, and then may go do something and then maybe not.  Our light snow is melting this morning and it will be wet outside for a while. It is very windy and cold out there. We still need moisture.  Thanks for stopping by today and stay safe.