tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33889551766752544212012-02-16T05:15:15.341-06:00Tales of Adventures: Here, There and Everywhere...Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.comBlogger591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-33434727985977253842009-07-21T23:02:00.010-05:002009-07-25T23:25:37.307-05:00

This past Sunday, all of the other crazy on-goings in this house came to a halt. You may ask what could have caused this? A storm? A trip? Visitors from afar? Some random part of the house fell down? Nope. It was none of this.What caused this halting of projects of all sorts was the bringing home of our new puppy, Cyrus. He is of the English Springer Spaniel variety and thus far is proving

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-49612924708556881462009-07-10T14:04:00.006-05:002009-07-21T14:17:26.664-05:00

One of the random things that I am trying to do amidst all the other ongoings is to try and find some curtains for my living room window. It is of an extremely wide width (118"), and is on the west side of the house which makes the entire room 90+ if the sun is out. It is also located behind one of the couches. This means that the best curtain rod for hanging curtains to cover it is one of

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-38017967702536914832009-07-07T13:51:00.004-05:002009-07-21T14:18:26.438-05:00

As mentioned in a previous post, the Overwhelming Variety of Weeds had taken over my gardens. You may not have believed it, but there was indeed a Yucca plant hidden in the weeds. The weeds were so dense, that the Yucca sent up a flag, in the form of a flowering stalk, to let me know exactly where it was.And so I was able to weed and mulch, and weed and mulch until finally, the entire Yucca

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-68511656897043805612009-06-18T13:35:00.003-05:002009-07-21T13:50:16.271-05:00

Now that we have finished up most of the remodel, and I am making inroads on the garden attack of the Weeds of the Overwhelming Variety, it should come as no surprise that we have not had enough chaos in the house in the last few weeks. This is expected to be remedied in the near future by the addition of a puppy. We looked around and researched breeds and have decided that an English Springer

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-85611864934869791002009-06-10T13:13:00.003-05:002009-07-21T13:56:05.875-05:00

At my other house, I thought having a bit of garden was great. A few flowers, some veg and herbs, a back patio with fire pit, and look how nice my backyard is. This was also the initial thought I had had when moving to my Small Town. I have a much much bigger backyard, that came with much much more garden. 2300 square feet of garden to be exact. This means A LOT of area for growing of the

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-60050498587071549522009-05-29T23:57:00.014-05:002009-07-10T22:21:44.033-05:00

I decided to take a bit of a break from working on the house projects to play in my gardens. They are immense. In fact, there is more garden here than the size of my entire previous lot, I think. This makes for a lot of weeds, but also makes for a lot of flowers. Part of last summer I spent trying to identify what exactly I had in my gardens. Mostly weeds, but a few nice flowering

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-69498037453165327802009-05-27T23:52:00.004-05:002009-07-10T22:20:57.317-05:00

For the last few weeks, I've been working on the stair project. As it was my idea to take the carpet off the stairs, it's my job to get them looking nice. I started out stripping the glue off with wood stripper. Normally it only takes a few minutes for the finish to get soft. This glue is so thick that it takes a minimum of 4 hours for the stripper to work. And even then I think I'm going to

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-67660536266472745842009-05-19T23:46:00.003-05:002009-07-10T22:02:21.440-05:00

Today we a great day to be outside, nice weather, nice temperature, and things are very green. Additionally, it is always interesting to see what the other creatures in our yard are doing with such nice weather. We have several families of birds located near us, which makes me a bit nervous, seeing as there are quite a few neighborhood cats around. I guess it will be survival of the

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-80999171893969665472009-05-18T23:43:00.003-05:002009-07-10T21:55:14.710-05:00

Here's a picture of all of the sweaters that I have in my possession that have been knit by my grandmother over the years. My mom is making a scrapbook of all of the sweaters that they can find that she's knit up for various people, so I got mine together to take a picture.I guess I have a ways to go to catch up.House update: We are now the proud owners of yet another new toilet, as when the

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-19696511685843832202009-05-08T23:34:00.006-05:002009-07-10T21:52:58.204-05:00

Finally, with all of the major activities getting finished upstairs, we were able to finally get the den primed and painted. It went from a rather sickly pea green to a nice denim blue. We actually managed to get everything painted in one coat, so now we have a leftover gallon of blue paint.Anyone want something painted denim blue?This also allowed us to move the first floor furniture back into

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-59417497847854495462009-04-26T23:21:00.006-05:002009-07-10T21:47:08.576-05:00

This weekend, we took another short break and had visitors. These were visitors with a purpose. These visitors were friends of ours who had signed up to run a race with us. The Crazylegs Classic. We signed up for the 5mile run. This run starts at the State Capitol, goes through the University campus, and ends at the football stadium, where you have the option of rehydrating with either water

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-39777684098078194792009-04-22T23:13:00.005-05:002009-07-10T21:40:08.599-05:00

For days now, I've been eagerly awaiting the return of the cast iron clawfoot tub. After my stint with the angle grinder, we sent it off to be sandblasted and painted. As so much of Bath Two is white, I thought that painting the tub a pretty color would make a nice statement. So off it went to the Auto Body Shop with a piece of the blue tile as a companion. I wanted the outside of the tub to

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-62777623153378654732009-04-07T13:48:00.004-05:002009-06-02T14:12:04.654-05:00

Today we got the whirlpool tub moved upstairs from the den into the actual bathroom. It took 3 men to get it slid up the stairs and around all the corners and settled into place.We also have now removed the sink from the powder room to have it ready to be installed in the upstairs bathroom. This means that the only working sink in the house is the one in the kitchen. I am not sure how this will

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-80925214754788042222009-04-02T13:38:00.005-05:002009-06-02T14:07:27.305-05:00

Sometimes, it is a blessing to be on the short side, and able to fold myself up small, and other times it is not. The past few days have been more on the "not" side of this. As we found out earlier, our house has no insulation. None. Nada. Zip. We have been trying to rectify this situation as we open up walls and ceilings.As most of the ceiling of our den is currently open, we can get into

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-40989291010854134592009-03-31T13:33:00.004-05:002009-06-02T14:02:51.515-05:00

We are getting ever closer, although some days it does not feel like it. We now have the vanity upstairs in the master bathroom, and it looks great with the tile and the walls. We also were able to get the sink top set into place as well. Now it's just waiting for the plumber to come back to install the faucets and hook everything up.In the other bathroom, the tile is going in. As there was a

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-68068133691047025152009-03-29T13:24:00.005-05:002009-06-02T14:00:34.025-05:00

After much working on the house, both inside and out, and with minimal breaks, we were happily forced to take a break this weekend. This is because we had our first guests come to visit since the remodel began - my brother and his wife.Nevermind that there is still only one working bathroom, and it is not on the same floor as the bedrooms. Nevermind that there is no heat on the 2nd floor.

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-69318402505851527052009-03-20T18:15:00.003-05:002009-04-16T18:28:48.401-05:00

This week was the first nice weather we've had this spring. This meant that it was finally time to tackle the windows.First, all of the siding for the second floor on this side of the house had to be taken down. It had to be done carefully, as we needed to reuse it once the new windows were put in.Under one set of siding, we found old cedar siding that also needed to be cut through in order to

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-39886923740941465752009-03-16T18:03:00.004-05:002009-04-16T18:09:51.585-05:00

One of the little luxuries that we decided to splurge on for our new bathrooms is to have heated tile floors. I had put one into my basement bathroom in my previous house and loved it.We got the kind that you can add a real thermostat to, so that we can set it to the exact temperature that we want. Since we were putting in brand-new tile floors, it was very easy to get laid out.Once the heating

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-87376690083098984782009-02-27T17:52:00.002-06:002009-04-16T18:02:16.339-05:00

Yes, that's right, we now have actual walls. Not lines on the floor, not pieces of 2x4 nailed in place, but actual real walls.Walls that look like walls. Walls with openings that one can lookout of.(Although, we are not putting windows in between rooms. This actually just me looking thru what will eventually be medicine cabinets on the other side.)We have walls that have insulation in them.

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-14277541026121288872009-02-25T17:44:00.001-06:002009-04-16T17:49:10.782-05:00

an Oscar Meyer wiener...Much to my surprise when returning from a shopping trip to the grocery store, the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile was parked just a few blocks from my house!This is something that you don't see everyday. It was just parked in front of a house along the curb, just as any other car would be. Does the driver live in the house? Maybe they were just visiting? My curiosity was

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-84797019493733401692009-02-24T17:35:00.005-06:002009-04-16T17:42:41.408-05:00

Since I did not ski the Birkie, I still wanted to enjoy some of the winter activities that the general area offered. I wanted to go snowshoeing. I brought the snowshoes in the car, just in case.We found a nice little park along the road home that had some snowshoeing trails. The one we took went along a little creek, and then went along the Birkie trail. This was very good information to have

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-9221203816510131552009-02-23T17:10:00.008-06:002009-04-16T17:43:21.234-05:00

This weekend we took a break from all of the uproar in the house. We headed up north to the Birkie. For those of you who are not susceptible to Birkie fever, this is THE main cross-country ski race in the US - officially known as the American Birkebeiner.It is a 50km ski race through the woods of northern Wisconsin. People of all shapes, sizes, and abilities (even some Olympians) and from all

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-6681881519973863082009-02-20T15:37:00.009-06:002009-04-16T17:10:26.685-05:00

This week was the week of getting new utilities - new plumbing and electrical! And boy, did we need it.First, the electrical:We started out with some Old electrical parts. We had knob-and-tube with the ceramic insulators all over the house. This was kind of assumed based on the earlier incident with the cutting of wires.We had wires just hanging out in the middle of doorways, as well as

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-59538334580135914662009-02-13T17:11:00.003-06:002009-02-24T17:38:14.976-06:00

If you have ever lived in an old house, you know that closet space was not generally the priority it is today. You may have even read my earlier post on the excitement that I had with my new closet this past summer.In our house, the Master Bedroom had one of the smallest closets of all the bedrooms. 3' x 3' with a door in one wall. We had already decided to enlarge it slightly to be 4' x 5'

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-59503796468297252062009-02-08T16:47:00.008-06:002009-02-24T17:09:46.036-06:00

Oh well, that's all I can say. There was progress made last week in the rebuilding manner, only seems that it has been counteracted in progress made this week in the destruction manner again. This week the destruction outweighed the reconstruction.Let's see, where to start. Hmmm, we had to move all of the furniture out of our den in order to cut a large hole in the ceiling from one side of the

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-13547378909791475482009-02-01T16:06:00.006-06:002009-02-24T16:46:46.667-06:00

So after a few weeks of mostly destructive actions, this week has been somewhat more satisfying, as some actual visual progress has been made.Progress:We framed in the new closet, including the pocket doors. We are reusing old doors from elsewhere in the house as the pocket doors, so they will all match.We have all of the drywall up in the Master Bedroom. This, however, was also not without

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-69051036387255718952009-01-26T10:58:00.001-06:002009-02-24T16:05:22.280-06:00

So, in order to use the tiny space from the original bathroom, we had to tear it out. As mentioned previously, I went on an adventure to try and purchase a shower. And what an adventure it turned out to be. Phase Two in the shower project, turned out to be actually getting it installed.First, we wanted to put it into the basement, where there was already a concrete floor. No problem, you say.

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-53595401140800770012009-01-19T18:23:00.006-06:002009-02-24T15:40:09.686-06:00

In every project, there are somethings that seem to happen just to keep you on your toes. In our case, just as in every other, this has happened. The day started out so well, too. Seeing as it was MLK, Jr Day, we had an extra pair of hands to help as one of our friends had the day off of work. He likes helping us out, as he lives in a condo, so comes over to practice the manly arts of home de

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-18190344610347668482009-01-15T18:54:00.013-06:002009-02-24T15:39:10.431-06:00

Well, week 2 of the Theory of Chaos Project (aka Me and My Bathroom) started out ok. I now have the shower actually on-site in its entirety. Not assembled yet, but at least in the general area. Which is more than was possible this last weekend.In other news, there have been more adventures of the type Surprise. As mentioned earlier, we have no insulation apparently anywhere in the house. For

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-26409590528118033622009-01-10T18:20:00.001-06:002009-01-15T18:53:17.794-06:00

Please, oh please, can I just buy a shower? The kind that has a floor with a drain, and at least 3 walls? I don't care if it has a door or if it requires a curtain. Any shower will do, as long as it's 36"x36".This, my friends, is no easy undertaking. Little did I know what I was in for when off I went to my local Do-It-Oneself big box store. In fact, I went to 2 such places. What I found

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-83372814359907821762009-01-09T19:22:00.010-06:002009-01-15T18:53:10.095-06:00

My basic theory on Chaos is, that apparently I have a very hard time avoiding it. I seem to go from one chaotic undertaking to the next. The current form Chaos is taking in my household is in the form of renovation. A major undertaking has been started in the last few days - going from a 4 bedroom, 1.25 bath house to a 3 bedroom, 2.25+ bath house. Lots of noise, dust, and debris everywhere.

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-43640281205143280222008-12-24T19:21:00.015-06:002009-01-15T18:52:48.057-06:00

As I have been somewhat limited in what I can do, as it is so cold and snowy outside, I have been working on several indoor projects. Mostly to do with knitting things. I rather like knitting, as it keeps me busy and makes me much less antsy when sitting for long periods of time.Thus far this month, I have finished:3 pairs mittens - 1 each blue, black, and light brown1 giant Christmas Stocking(

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-28713663001387507152008-12-20T19:20:00.017-06:002009-01-15T18:09:50.009-06:00

Last night we followed a Norwegian family tradition of mine and made lefse. If you do not know what lefse is, it is rather like a very thin tortilla made of potatoes. If it is as thick as a regular flour tortilla, you have Limpe. Lefse is generally eaten spread with butter and sugar, then rolled up into a tube. There are many debates raging as to if the butter should be melted or not, and if

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-32030650804401675102008-12-19T19:05:00.015-06:002008-12-25T13:46:21.362-06:00

Ski Report: Yesterday we went skiing again. Again to the flat ski trail (as I am not yet willing to do much hill work). By now I have investigated the length of the trail, just to see how far I actually CAN ski in one go. I had to use the Summer Trail Map, as there is no Winter Trail Map. Which is rather puzzling, as there are definitely metal signs bolted to posts that very clearly tell one

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-8181439388112738422008-12-11T10:16:00.006-06:002008-12-15T19:52:06.392-06:00

I, probably more than the average City Girl, like to spend time in the out-of-doors. This includes things like hiking, backpacking, climbing, canoeing, camping, etc. I am also one known to try the impossible - i.e. hike up not One, not Two, but Three 14,000ft mountains in under 2 days - which I did with some friends of mine 2 summers ago. I finished 2.75 of them, and only turned around because

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-70899596155737482202008-12-10T10:11:00.008-06:002008-12-15T19:46:17.736-06:00

Again we have had another snowfall. This one combined with freezing rain to put about 1/4" of ice onto the horizontal driving and walking surfaces - causing me to take 20min to thaw my windshield wipers, and clear the ice off the car windows - and then it began to snow. And snow, and snow and snow and snow. And also blow. There are some Very Large Snowdrifts just a short ways out of town. I'm

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-44929121585130477152008-12-03T13:24:00.013-06:002008-12-11T11:58:32.402-06:00

As I got up this morning, I could see that it was still snowing. It has been snowing since early morning on December the 1st. It is still snowing. The weather people around here have been revising their estimates of total snowfall almost every hour. At first it was to be only 1-2"; now it is up to 4-6" with no end in sight.It is quite pretty, the snow. And, it necessitated the inaugural use

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-23058700434168908002008-12-02T12:11:00.003-06:002008-12-11T12:21:01.400-06:00

Real trees are so nice to have...Here is the Christmas Tree with its decorations. We managed to get it trimmed out the same night that we got it. It turned out very nice, and we made it fit quite well in the available space.Doesn't it look pretty all lit up in the window?

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-28404848464602445462008-12-01T13:21:00.008-06:002008-12-04T13:58:26.565-06:00

Today, Nate and I went to get our first Christmas Tree. Both of us love to have a real tree, even with all of the work that it entails. We did our homework, and looked up several farms in the area and investigated prices. Our backup was the local youth hockey tree lot just a few miles down the highway. The farm we chose was quite a ways out in the countryside. Even by Small Town standards it

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-10919432688626918352008-11-27T13:19:00.009-06:002008-12-04T13:43:34.355-06:00

Today was Thanksgiving Day. A day for giving thanks. Thanks for family, shelter, and good food. This Thanksgiving was the first time I actually cooked the entire dinner myself. I did try to plan ahead so that all I had to do on the actual day was stuff and cook the turkey, and reheat/cook the side dishes. Of course, I can't do anything the easy way. Dinner had to be served between 11:00-11:

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-81925572713719402092008-11-14T13:17:00.002-06:002008-12-04T13:23:49.097-06:00

Today was the first day of actual snow that we have had here in the Small Town. At least the first day that the snow actually stuck to the ground for more than a few seconds. It was beautiful. The entire neighborhood was transformed into a Winter Wonderland. The kids were out playing, and I even saw a few snowmen appear.Here is a view from our backyard. The neighbor's tree looked quite nice

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-19807120461445063472008-10-22T19:08:00.009-05:002008-12-04T13:21:05.454-06:00

Now that it is truly fall, and the weather is getting cooler, the final harvest from the garden has been done. Many tomatoes, jalapenos, habaneros, and ground cherries have been obtained. Some of the tomatoes are green, as they were rescued from the early frosts.Additionally, a trip to the apple orchard was made to obtain apples for sauce, and apples for eating. This year I got Empires for

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-80402045960109300072008-10-17T22:03:00.003-05:002008-10-28T14:31:48.837-05:00

Today we took a short drive from our Small Town to one of the county parks. It is about a 15min drive on a Very Windy Road and has a lake to see. It is also has available trails for cross-country skiing with snow. We decided to hike some of the trails, so that I could see what they would be like for skiing on in a few months.Off we started on the hike. It was lightly raining, but we were

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-39010007875360149202008-10-07T16:02:00.004-05:002008-10-07T16:11:57.070-05:00

So far this season, I have produced in my kitchen:Jelly, grape variety - 15 jarsJuice, also grape variety - 3.5 quarts (mostly because I was getting sick of jelly)Salsa - 8 pints (with more coming as tomatoes/jalapenos ripen)Venison chili - 5.5 quartsPasta Sauce, red variety - 12 pintsCrushed tomatoes, yellow variety - 5 pints (or so, as I had to use jelly jars for some of it)Pesto Sauce - 15

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-13484317504406338072008-09-22T15:34:00.021-05:002008-09-23T16:13:55.569-05:00

In the short timespan of 3 days, we have now expanded our upstairs by at least 25%! Yes, indeed. 25%!! Amazing, you say. How can this be?, you ask. How does one expand their upper story in 3 days? If not by magic, then what?By finally finishing the install of the new oak flooring. That is how. We now have 3 of 4 bedrooms actually usable for beds and such items as are generally found in

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-70347911223155794652008-09-20T09:38:00.016-05:002008-09-23T15:51:04.636-05:00

As I have mentioned before, there is a lot of farming and cultivation going on around and in my Small Town. Some have planted crops, some have planted flowers, and some are just feeding animals. At our house, we have flowers that were planted by a previous occupant, so this summer I mostly just planted veggies.I planted tomatoes (regular round variety), peppers (sweet and hot varieties), pole

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-66562290656017025582008-09-08T18:42:00.004-05:002008-09-08T18:53:17.256-05:00

This past Friday evening, I encountered a Small Town phenomenon that I had rather forgot about. Or at least only really seen in the movies. I decided to head out for a run a bit before 7pm. As I left the house and ran towards the high school (my usual route), I realized that all cars were heading in the same direction. They came in off of side streets and drove towards the school. What was

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-6581351362552575002008-09-04T18:45:00.010-05:002008-09-04T19:15:11.123-05:00

Part of this move from Big City to Small Town has resulted in trying to find one's way around on streets that have small signs, streets with no signs, streets that suddenly become highways, and streets that end as the sidewalk does, in corn fields. These roads often do not run North South East or West, but in a Northerly Southerly Easterly or Westerly direction. You will get to where you are

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-88808730718397636382008-08-18T21:15:00.007-05:002008-08-18T21:42:43.388-05:00

So in keeping with my move to the Small Town, I thought I would try some things generally associated with those who live in a Small Town; where life seems to move a bit more slowly, and there is more time to take time with things. My first attempt was to bake bread. Now, I realize that some of you may have never tried to bake bread, so just a bit of background here. There are generally two

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-65934337483913643232008-08-10T09:00:00.004-05:002008-08-10T09:38:12.084-05:00

Well, I got to go back to my Big City for just over a week of city life once again. All kinds of sounds and people and parks and trains and buildings. However, it was a working trip, as we have been trying to get the City house ready to sell. Anyone need a house? It's very nice and roomy, and in a great City neighborhood. We just don't need 2 houses. For any reason really. I do not want to

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-83736526020878744532008-07-25T15:29:00.004-05:002008-11-13T13:08:32.867-06:00

In my wanderings around my Small Town, I have recently come across that elusive place...where the sidewalk ends. I managed to find where the sidewalk ends on accident. I went for a jog, following some directions I had been given, and apparently mistook Left for Right. Happily I went along, until, all of sudden, no more sidewalk! In case you are wondering, I have found that it actually ends in

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-83428429250693813722008-07-08T19:47:00.005-05:002008-07-25T16:10:06.652-05:00

Here in small town America is where Main Street still comes into its own. On my new Main Street, I have visited the hardware store, 2 of 6 banks, the butcher shop, the pharmacy, the grocery, the Post Office, 2 of 3 gas stations, and walked by several houses. There is also a car repair place, 3 bars, a diner, a furniture store, a jeweler, a random crafty-type shop, a pretentious-looking artsy

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-86431488188638512512008-07-06T12:56:00.004-05:002008-07-06T13:20:13.144-05:00

Well, this big city girl has now relocated herself to a Small Town. And I do mean small. So far, in my adventures exploring around, you can head about 6 blocks in any direction before you get to either a field (of crops) or a field (just the plain kind) or a farm containing cows. Many many cows. We do have 3 stoplights though - 2 on one end of town, and 1 on the other. Not sure why 3, and

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-51046906189871641742007-06-08T15:28:00.001-05:002008-07-06T13:19:09.142-05:00

A LOT!! Especially in a tiny room located approximately 100meters from a river in which you forget to close the windows. And I have also learned that mosquitos in Italy make gigantic mosquito bites that itch for at least 5 days. And they multiply in your room overnight even when the windows are closed. We started out with 1 mosquito clinging to the 12-ft high ceiling. By morning we killed 6 and

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-34255170475175673942007-06-08T15:19:00.000-05:002007-06-08T15:27:22.385-05:00

1. It is located in the area of Tuscana (Tuscany), which is actually in the province of Laziò.2. It is 150 years older than Roma, and was founded by the Etruscans.3. It has a lot of tombs that are rather cave-like.4. You can get excellent banana gelato at the Gelaterria to the left of the main gate in the old city wall. Mmmm!5. There is a tiny school there at which you can take classes in cooking

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-4130118395053014092007-06-08T15:08:00.000-05:002007-06-08T15:17:46.978-05:00

So, I should've kept my internet when I had it. I've been able to log on to check on a flight for about 5min, and that's all. No internet. Not anywhere that I was. So, in the travelling bit, we finished seeing Roma on day 2. And, got really lucky in finding the Engineering University in Roma (even while we were trying to find a church), and got to talk to some other students. Rather interesting

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-44486697929602699242007-05-27T09:39:00.000-05:002007-05-27T10:01:07.185-05:00

After the adventures in the airport, we still all had to be up by 7am to head out for the first tour of the day. Started out at the Vatican Museum, where I learned that Romans made their statues realistic and with closed mouths, and Greeks' were perfect with open mouths. Hmm, not so sure I'll use that tidbit again, but who knows when I'll need to explain something about ancient statues.

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-12246527067588591112007-05-24T14:20:00.000-05:002007-05-24T14:25:56.037-05:00

Or so I thought. For once I was not the last one to the airport. One of our group got his passport at 12:30pm on the day that we left. The flight left at 3:20. Just glad it wasn't me. We got into Amsterdam early for once, which later turned out not to be the best idea. We unloaded the plane, got thru customs with the greatest of ease, and then found out...apparently all flights into the

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388955176675254421.post-18089727508727314522007-05-15T20:41:00.000-05:002007-05-15T21:44:27.176-05:00

For reasons, still unbeknownst to me, my life is continually surprising and full of adventure. Sometimes wanted, sometimes not; but always making for good tales to tell. Mainly these adventures happen when I am travelling. Sometimes near, sometimes far, but always there is an adventure. And so I came to a decision that it may be a good idea to document such things.Maybe this will give me an

Karinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09486322193553588197noreply@blogger.com0