December 20, 2008

We woke to either a light dusting of snow or the remnants of a windy night and 18 degrees.

We packed up our stuff - closed up the house for 2008 and started out for our jouney home. 

This has been another wonderful year for time spent up at O'Wich. As we recant another year, we are always impressed at the amount of chores we are able to accomplish although our visits were short and seldom. 

We look forward to many more visits in 2009 and hope our families and friends can join us!

December 19, 2008

             

Not to be disappointed and as promised by the meteorologist - we got about 12" of snow. this was all by 4:00 a.m. By 8:30 a.m. the visibility diminished and we're expecting several more inches. It is beautiful. Good thing we're not leaving today.

We didn't get a chance to put the stone up on the walls by the fireplace, due to the weather. Instead, we put the pull-down stairs to the loft in. Although I didn't do much, it looked rather easy. From start to clean up - including a break for lunch, it took about 6 hours - and that included making the futon and moving some boxes around.

           

We visited Paul and Betty for a little bit before heading to Tamarack for dinner. After dinner we did our holiday grocery shopping - knowing there would be no time when we got home...we heard on the news that the Chicago area got hit hard with snow.

December 18, 2008

What a lazy day! But I am on vacation!!!! We didn't do anything except watch TV, bring in firewood and Carlo changed the thermostat. 

At 5:00 p.m. we were still expecting the forecasted snow storm.

Carlo ran to Wal-Mart for a propane tank - however I doubt we'll use it. We're going to cancel with Rick and Katie for the visit we had planned for the weekend and leave Saturday morning to head home rather than Sunday afternoon...there's probably some snow waiting to welcome us back home!

December 17, 2008

Gotta love O'Wich Lazy Mornings! I started off with coffee and TV. Carlo went to get breakfast and check out the roads from the night snowfall.  

Carlo fed the birds, took a shot at the treacherous red squirrel; who seemed to keep his distance for the rest of the day! Paul visited for a bit in the late morning.

Tom, another neighbor and Paul's brother, stopped by for a visit during the afternoon. We get more visitors while at O'Wich than at home!

Carlo sighted his rifle and I enjoyed catching up on TV and some much needed R&R.

Later on we even played our "new" favorite game - Name The Dead Singer of Christmas Carols" - and when I thought my life was incomplete...Karen Carpenter chimed in ~ and yes...she's dead!

We're expecting a snow storm of about 10" sometime on Thursday - so for now it's just  wait and see if the weather people know what they're talking about. 

We did catch a beautifully colored sky as the sun was setting. 

December 16, 2008

We wanted to get off early due to a weather advisory of snow headed for Chicago - from the north. However, instead, we left almost an hour later than usual. Maybe a good thing.  The traffic was fairly good, we made a couple of stops and we arrived, unloaded and settled in just in time for General Hospital!

At 3:00 p.m. we went to lunch at La Tolteca and it was delicious - as usual! Then came the need to "walk off lunch" so we hit Wal-Mart for some essentials - food, last minute gifts and a salon visit. 

The snow was really coming down hard by the end of this shopping trip and we were anxious to get back to the cabin. The snow was full of sparkle and it was beautiful.

I attempted to wait up to watch a show at 9:00 p.m., but of course, in true O'Wich fashion - I called it a night instead!

December 2, 2008

Woke up this morning to lots of birds on the feed pile - aka buffet - and of course, the red squirrels. Carlo put out the rest of the feed, cleared out the ashes from the fireplace and we straightened up the place in an effort to get ready to head home. 

The sky was beautiful and I took a parting shot of the front of the cabin. 

On the way we noticed the barn I am watching is still standing. Not really sure why, since it's leaning has really caused the barn to form a bulging middle! I'm sure a really heavy snow will do the final damages! Until then, I will continue to capture it everytime we pass it.

To summarize our kick off to Christmas, we bought too many little holiday decorations, heard way too many versions of Frosty the Snowman and a few too many Karen Carpenter songs...yes, she's dead and by the way ~ It's snowing!

December 1, 2008

We woke up to about 4" of snow. There isn't much in the way of color around O'Wich - so the snow makes everything look fresh, clean and crisp. We spotted several animal tracks in the snow - not sure which animals but there were tracks.

Paul stopped by for a visit and cup of coffee. After he left, we went to Wal-Mart. I picked up some Christmas decorations - yes more! I seem to have sold all of mine in the garage sale; along with many dishes needed for entertaining - oops. We also picked up a new track for the patio blinds. 

While I made lunch, Carlo went on squirrel patrol. He was diligent with keeping his post, but the frisky little squirrels scampered off with the slightest of movement. With that being said, one of them may have been stunned a bit! We restocked the woodpile and enjoyed lunch. No not squirrel...salads! 

After lunch we  took pictures since we figured out how to use the time and we have a tripod. Could one of these be on our Christmas cards???? We'll see!

Carlo hung the new track, had no luck with the ~hunt for the red squirrels~ wasn't that a movie?

We cleaned all the cabinets and fridge of food and made a huge buffet for the critters - or will it be for the red squirrels? 

We had a great fire and listened to Christmas Carols for the rest of the evening. We tried to guess who the singers were that were caroling. I think most of them are now dead. (Elvis, Frank, Karen, Bing and Nat to name just a few!)

November 30, 2008

After sleeping 12 hours it was time to get up. It's hard to tackle any "to do" list with sleep taking up so many hours! I don't know what it is about being at O'Wich...it's so easy to sleep.

We were looking out the back window and Carlo spotted three trees along the river that were gnawed by some critter...most likely a beaver or three. He had been on the prowl for the bothersome red squirrel duo, but now we may have some other havoc wreaking visitors. We went down by the river to check out the damage. OMG - it was more than three trees...it was five! Hopefully, they are done and maybe we can salvage the trees for firewood if the beavers haven't built their condos by the time we can move them. We don't know how long it took for the trees to be chewed like this and we don't know if they were keeping their teeth sharp and looking into building. We did want to prune down the amount of trees, but those weren't any of the ones we wanted to get rid of!

We put up the bathroom fixture after custominzing the install and conquering a few minor set backs (of course, nothing can be done e-a-s-y). And in true Bob Screw Up fashion, the wiring was all messed up. Good and bad. Now the wall switch operates the fixture (good) and the ceiling light (bad). Not part of our plan however we do have an outlet and the fixture looks great. 

We had to build a box to hold the fixture flush. The walls are log and there is no way to run the wiring in the wall. Everything has to be surface mounted. The fixture couldn't be mounted without an electrical box...so the wooden box houses it and the wiring. 

Oh, by the way - it's snowing!

It was another lazy evening. TV, fire, food and sleep. It's amazing that I have to wake up from a nap, just to go to bed!

November 29, 2008

After sleeping for 13 hours - the day started! We actually forgot some things during our shopping frenzy and headed into Baraboo to go to Menard's. We picked up some Christmas decorations, filters and electrical supplies to install the fixture in the bathroom that will be over the sink. We had lunch at Culver's - try the Cashew Salad, yummy. We visited with Betty for a short while and when we got back Carlo started the fireplace up. 

We hung the canvas I made in the bathroom. It was suppose to go on the wall behind the door so when you're sitting on the pot, you could look at it. But we hung a towel rod there and now the canvas is over the toilet...I guess just the men that use the facilities will be able to look at it!

Carlo went on squirrel patrol on and off for part of the day. There are now two red squirrels that are on the property. Soon there will be none! 

And Carlo ended his nature call by feeding the birds. He has several feeders and they draw some beautiful birds. We have a blue bird, a red bird, several non-descriptive birds and a woodpecker. 

We watched a movie, had dinner and went to bed early.

November 28, 2008

It's off to O'Wich - the earliest ever. We left at 6:00 a.m. We made a quick stop at JCPenney - since it was Black Friday the stores opens somewhere between midnight and 4:00 a.m. There wasn;t much traffic once we got on the road. We stopped at the oasis in Belevedere and there were few people there. Everyone else must've been at the mall! We stopped again in DeForest for gas. We were pleasantly surprised at the cost. Last time we filled the Tahoe is was over $85 - this time $48.20 - cha ching!!!

Along the route to the cabin we noticed a truck (going the other direction) on the side of the road that was on fire. It appeared that the load he was hauling (a mattress and some other junk) is what caught on fire. We were going too fast for a photo of that! 

On the way down the road to the cabin, we saw a lone hunter. Thank goodness hunting season is just about over...these guys that hunt in Wisconsin are crazy.

Once we got the truck unloaded, we brought in firewood. It had snowed a little before we arrived and we didn't know what weather was coming...so we stocked up!

We unloaded the stones from Judi and Jerry (thank you!) that we are using on the walls behind the fireplace. It should look great when we're finished. This project is (hopefully) taking place during our December trip!

We decided that we would celebrate Black Friday with our own shopping expedition. We went to Wal-Mart for Christmas decorations and checked out K-Mart - this K-Mart is worse than any K-Mart around home. We enjoyed lunch at LaTolteca, went to Ace and then went grocery shopping. We were pretty much "shopped" out and looked forward to resting for the rest of the day.

October 6, 2008

The rain and winds during the night cleared the trees of most of their leaves. The colors were beautiful - the oranges and browns with hints of green reminded us that fall is here!

We packed up the truck and headed home!

October 5, 2008

Since it's raining - we couldn't do much outside. So after breakfast, we went to town to buy more stuff that we really could do without. This "really" is different than the stuff we bought yesterday! Had luch and relaxed the rest of the early afternoon. Carlo caulked the eaves - another valiant effort to weatherproof the cabin. 

After dinner we got things together to leave for home in the morning.

October 4, 2008

The day started with cool crisp air and blue skies. After breakfast I put some filters I had bought onto my camera lenses. We headed off to Wal-Mart to pick up more stuff we could do without. After lunch we some chores...brought in the wind chimes, put the rockers away, covered the patio set and blew the leaves. There were a lot of leaves! Carlo installed a vent under the house. We borrowed a log splitter from Paul and the split the trees we cut down the last time we were at O'Wich. It wasn't nearly the amount of work that I thought it would be, except we had to take all the chunks of tree out of the wood crib and put them on the ground...split them and put them on the ground and then re-stack all the split wood in the crib. But we were done in a little over an hour. Now, we'll have plenty of wood - unless someone "borrows" some!

October 3, 2008

Finally a weekend at O'Wich! We got off to a late start but had a good ride. The normal traffic and of course - construction! 45 mpg through it and it only put us behind about 8 minutes. The one good thing about construction...no speeding tickets! Crossing over the river, we noticed it was rather high - Always a bit of stress until we see everything is okay - and it was! 

We arrived in time to catch General Hospital and have lunch. Thank goodness we bought an antenna for the tv.

We did a little grocery shopping and then visited Paul and Betty to deliver some freshly baked houska. After dinner we just kicked back. Our favorite thing to do after working all night and then traveling!

August 23, 2008

This trip involved cutting a couple of trees. The bark of this tree was falling off and a bat flew from it when we starting working on it. It was a lot of work, but we'll be warm for the winter. The tree was pretty dried out; soon we'll have to split it....sounds like more work is coming!

The river has gone down a lot. The sandbars are visible and you'd never know there was such a massive amount of destruction just 6 or so weeks earlier.

The fence is along the road from County Hwy O to the cabin. One day we spotted this enormous wasp next hanging on it. The thing was the largest nest I've ever seen.

June 27, 2008

       

Here's that barn again. The water didn't go down much in two weeks.

This sign is letting us know that the road is closed. Yep, it was under water.

The is a view of the river. Generally, this is full of sandbars!

June 10, 2008

  

This is a barn that we pass on the way to O'Wich. The floods were damaging.  Lake Delton, which is in the Dells, crumbled and flooded the entire area. This barn is off of 108 and we were amazed at the amount of water...and concerned about what we may find once we arrived.
 

This is a view of the river as we cross the bridge just before our exit. 

Luckily, our troubles were small in comparison to others in the Dells and Portage area.

May 12, 2008

We got up early and cleaned up inside and outside of the cabin. Our travel day home is always spent this way and we were on the road by 9:00. Shortly after leaving we get to see the barn is still standing – 10 days later! The trip ended up being a great accomplishment and our “To Do” list has been greatly minimized!!!

May 11, 2008

What a day! Another O’Wich continental breakfast, some Happy Mother’s Day festivities, including a phone call from Jackie and Alex and then it was back to work. Carlo and Rick removed a log from the kitchen ceiling / loft floor to shorten it and move it over a few inches in order for the loft stairs to fit between the logs. After cutting the log and replacing it – perfect fit I might add – there was lots of measuring and re-measuring; only to find that we ordered the wrong size stairs. So we boxed them back up! They got the futon and mattress into the loft and we all got ready to go. Rick and Katie packed up and met us at Portage Lumber to return the stairs. We went to Portage Family Restaurant before they headed back to Lockport.
We decided to retrieve our flower box that floated two properties away. It came right off the log and it is ready for its new home on the deck of the outhouse. Carlo decided to drive back through the easement. I’ll leave out everything I was thinking and saying but will tell you I didn’t like the idea. Now you see, the ground is still mushy, parts still have water and there are lots of mosquitoes. We barely make it to our property line and we are sinking and then we get stuck. Thank goodness we own a tow strap. Carlo wrapped it around a tree and although it was laborious and I feared the tree would fall – he was able to crank the truck a good 2 to 3 feet. He then put branches in front of and behind the tires in an effort for the tires to grab something – back and forth and yes deeper and deeper. Then as it would be, he was finally able to grab some dryer ground and get back further in the easement on a dryer patch of ground. The tire ruts were at least 10” deep. Once Carlo was able to get the truck going, he kept moving until he got to the cabin. The tires were caked with mud. What a day!

May 10, 2008

The morning started with the O’Wich continental breakfast and after Carlo got back from getting gas we hit the work list. At this point I should point out that Rick is trying to rename O’Wich to O’Work. Not too funny after the second time. But work it was…Carlo chain sawed the wood crib and while Rick motored back and forth with the wheel barrel, Katie carried wood to the fire pit. For every four of their trips, I think I made one. With the fire started and two huge piles to add to it, Carlo, Rick and Katie started the repair of the outhouse stairs and deck. I cleaned up the end of the front side of the cabin and used the leaf blower to spruce it up. They helped me re-line the edges with some logs. They also brought the exterior crawl space ramp back. After our lunch break – which Katie did an awesome job in preparing – we manned the fire, stabilized the outhouse rails and divided and conquered (again) to finish for the day. Rick and Katie attached foam insulation under the bedroom floor from the outside while Carlo and I made a new stair for the back deck. Now the last step of the deck won’t feel like a mini free-fall!
It was about 4:40 and it was time for a little R&R, showers and thoughts of dinner and a relaxing evening.
The evening was spent driving around – far from O’Wich – looking for a restaurant called Barrel House. Take 16 to 82 – turn right. Drive 2 or 3 miles. It’s on the right. No city name – it’s in the country. Never found it. (Once back at home I found we turned around about 1 mile too soon – maybe next time!) We settled on a place we passed three times. Dinner was actually pretty good and then we drove 40 minutes back to O’Wich. Another full day!