Well...I received a call from my brother, Jim, informing me that the information about my heritage was incorrect! No I am not Croatian, my husband is part. However, this is a tradition I adopted back in the 70's with a close friend at the time and continue today - not as frequently as I used to, usually at Easter.
Our family, the Bishops, are known for "Fruitcake" Yes FRUITCAKE! Very good fruitcake I might add! I have not made my share of fruitcake for several years now. I didn't want to hunt down all the ingredients.... however my brother will get a fruitcake next year!
The story goes is that... one year, around 1956 or so, our mother decided to sell fruitcakes door to door to make money for Christmas. My sister and I went out with a basket full of samples and took orders. I don't remember how many we sold, but the kitchen was full of fruitcakes. I not only sold, delivered but had the chore of dusting the fruit with flour and doing lots of stirring.
Our mother made fruitcakes up until her last years, still pretty good.
So.... please stand corrected.... I do have a Croatian sister in law "St. Toni" and I am married to a 1/2 Croatian - that should count!
The next loaf we cut I will obtain a cross section picture to show the thinness of the dough!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Making of the Povitica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Povitica:
"Nut roll is an Eastern European pastry of yeast bread with one or more fillings. It is also known as: Potica (also known as gubana, guban'ca, or povitica, depending on the region) in Slovenian; Orechovnik in Slovak; Makowiec in Polish; Povitica, Orehnjača (walnut variant), or Makovnjača (poppyseed variant), or strudla (trans. strudel) in Croatian; Štrudla in Serbian; [1] and bejgli in Hungarian. Over time, it has been adopted by most of Eastern Europe, and has subsequently changed into regional varieties of the same dessert. It is traditionally made to share at weddings, for Easter and Christmas, and on other celebrations or holidays."
One of the benefits of a large house that we really can't afford is having a large work area in the kitchen. This has allowed Helen to return to her roots (at least gastronomically speaking) and produce a large batch of Povitica before Christmas.
Why these pictures now - on New Years Eve?
A. I need to post something
B. I have, like, 45 pictures of deer in the yard and I'm saving them for the next post
C. The pictures are cool
The view from above:
The final product before baking:
The final product, it is actually BETTER than it looks - and it looks wonderful!
"Nut roll is an Eastern European pastry of yeast bread with one or more fillings. It is also known as: Potica (also known as gubana, guban'ca, or povitica, depending on the region) in Slovenian; Orechovnik in Slovak; Makowiec in Polish; Povitica, Orehnjača (walnut variant), or Makovnjača (poppyseed variant), or strudla (trans. strudel) in Croatian; Štrudla in Serbian; [1] and bejgli in Hungarian. Over time, it has been adopted by most of Eastern Europe, and has subsequently changed into regional varieties of the same dessert. It is traditionally made to share at weddings, for Easter and Christmas, and on other celebrations or holidays."
One of the benefits of a large house that we really can't afford is having a large work area in the kitchen. This has allowed Helen to return to her roots (at least gastronomically speaking) and produce a large batch of Povitica before Christmas.
Why these pictures now - on New Years Eve?
A. I need to post something
B. I have, like, 45 pictures of deer in the yard and I'm saving them for the next post
C. The pictures are cool
The view from above:
The final product before baking:
The final product, it is actually BETTER than it looks - and it looks wonderful!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Three Feet of Powder!
Yesterday - in the midst of a continuing snow storm, Helen and I went on our "Snowshoeing 101" trip with the "Silver Striders". A woman here in Bend has a company that specializes in taking people 50+ snowshoeing.
The area we went to was one of the "snow parks" just adjacent to the Mt. Bachelor skiing area. There was THREE FEET of new powder, and despite me having a rented snowshoe with a binding that was partially broken we had a great time. The round-trip was only 1.5 miles, and the scenery was beautiful!
Helen on the trail...
Lunch Time! We sat on mats that we brought along on our packs. Here is Helen enjoying the moment...
And Mr. Bill...
We rode out to the area with Jack & Julie, nice folks that we had great conversation with on the road. Here they are at lunch...
Pam is the owner and trail breaker - she's in front with her assistant Jim in the background...
And the other member of the group - Kermit...
The area we went to was one of the "snow parks" just adjacent to the Mt. Bachelor skiing area. There was THREE FEET of new powder, and despite me having a rented snowshoe with a binding that was partially broken we had a great time. The round-trip was only 1.5 miles, and the scenery was beautiful!
Helen on the trail...
Lunch Time! We sat on mats that we brought along on our packs. Here is Helen enjoying the moment...
And Mr. Bill...
We rode out to the area with Jack & Julie, nice folks that we had great conversation with on the road. Here they are at lunch...
Pam is the owner and trail breaker - she's in front with her assistant Jim in the background...
And the other member of the group - Kermit...
Friday, December 12, 2008
Can you believe the Internet & a $1500 surprise
The house we own in Bend was built about two years ago - and we have owned it for almost a year now. But needless to say we have spent very little time in the place until recently. So the two recent problems:
Our GE Advantium oven (high-tech thing with all kinds of electronic controls on it) started beeping and giving an "F3" error on the control panel. Of course the first think Mr. Bill does is hit the Internet to find out what is going on. GASP not only was there a plethora of complaints about the control panels on these ovens (all with the F3 error code)but also horror stories of how the manufacturer doesn't pay the companies that do the repair work so it's hard to get these ovens fixed.
Add to this that the warranty is one year from the DATE OF PURCHASE of the unit, and you can see a train-wreck coming. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The contact at GE was cordial and sympathetic and gave us an authorization number after a little bit of research. The local company came out in about 5 business days to fix it, and GE called us back the next day to make sure that everything went well. So take that Internet stuff with a large grain of salt!
Problem #2:
We have a high-efficiency furnace and AC system that has already needed maintenance twice since we have moved in. TWO pieces of good news - they have finally diagnosed the most recent problem and everything is working well; also in this process we found out that the contractor that built the place took out a 10-year parts and maintenance plan (a $1500 value) so we are good for eight more years! A pleasant surprise as there has been a lot more money going out of our pockets than into them recently.
Our GE Advantium oven (high-tech thing with all kinds of electronic controls on it) started beeping and giving an "F3" error on the control panel. Of course the first think Mr. Bill does is hit the Internet to find out what is going on. GASP not only was there a plethora of complaints about the control panels on these ovens (all with the F3 error code)but also horror stories of how the manufacturer doesn't pay the companies that do the repair work so it's hard to get these ovens fixed.
Add to this that the warranty is one year from the DATE OF PURCHASE of the unit, and you can see a train-wreck coming. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The contact at GE was cordial and sympathetic and gave us an authorization number after a little bit of research. The local company came out in about 5 business days to fix it, and GE called us back the next day to make sure that everything went well. So take that Internet stuff with a large grain of salt!
Problem #2:
We have a high-efficiency furnace and AC system that has already needed maintenance twice since we have moved in. TWO pieces of good news - they have finally diagnosed the most recent problem and everything is working well; also in this process we found out that the contractor that built the place took out a 10-year parts and maintenance plan (a $1500 value) so we are good for eight more years! A pleasant surprise as there has been a lot more money going out of our pockets than into them recently.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Good-Bye Tink
Well there has been another passing in our family - at least it feels like family. Last night Tinkerbell, our friends Robert and Diane's cat, had a stroke and they had to have him put to sleep.
Tink was a gentle soul, and like many pets, brought out elements of our personalities that sometimes get hidden under the stress and strain of our everyday lives.
We will miss him, but there are a lot of great memories that remain and I'm sure that in the near future some lucky cat will find a caring home with Robert and Diane.
Tink was a gentle soul, and like many pets, brought out elements of our personalities that sometimes get hidden under the stress and strain of our everyday lives.
We will miss him, but there are a lot of great memories that remain and I'm sure that in the near future some lucky cat will find a caring home with Robert and Diane.
Friday, November 28, 2008
House Hunting
First of all, lest someone doubt our sanity (even more), we are NOT HOUSE HUNTING ourselves!
On our way back from KC we had the opportunity to stop in Lincoln Nebraska and hook up with Jenn and Ryan while they where there. It was a combination trip for them, a chance for Jenn to do some coordination and bonding with her future colleagues at the university, and do a preliminary survey of the housing situation.
We spent some time house-hunting with them and of course I had to take some pictures:
Here Helen has to admire the fine collection of cowperson boots - esp. those yellow guys. Jenn is imagining what fun it would be to have a pony.
Ryan is concerned that the new 72inch LCD TV won't go around this corner.
Helen's already staking out a place for HER pony.
One of the strong points for this particular house - a separate cottage for the parents when they visit.
Father and steppy had a good time with the kids and breathed a sigh of relief when they did NOT find a house that they couldn't live without. It's always great to have a bit of a cooling off period!
On our way back from KC we had the opportunity to stop in Lincoln Nebraska and hook up with Jenn and Ryan while they where there. It was a combination trip for them, a chance for Jenn to do some coordination and bonding with her future colleagues at the university, and do a preliminary survey of the housing situation.
We spent some time house-hunting with them and of course I had to take some pictures:
Here Helen has to admire the fine collection of cowperson boots - esp. those yellow guys. Jenn is imagining what fun it would be to have a pony.
Ryan is concerned that the new 72inch LCD TV won't go around this corner.
Helen's already staking out a place for HER pony.
One of the strong points for this particular house - a separate cottage for the parents when they visit.
Father and steppy had a good time with the kids and breathed a sigh of relief when they did NOT find a house that they couldn't live without. It's always great to have a bit of a cooling off period!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Hat & Happy Thanksgiving!
As the financial market gets weaker/stronger/weaker (well you get the idea), like most Americans we have begun to get more, shall we say frugal - nay perhaps cheap!
Apparently Jenn and Ryan have noticed this phenomena and have elected to help me out with this wonderful birthday present:
In case you can't read it the hat says: "Don't forget my Senior Discount"
And lastly - Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! And keep a positive attitude as we move into the holiday season and the new year!
MR. BILL
Apparently Jenn and Ryan have noticed this phenomena and have elected to help me out with this wonderful birthday present:
In case you can't read it the hat says: "Don't forget my Senior Discount"
And lastly - Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! And keep a positive attitude as we move into the holiday season and the new year!
MR. BILL
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The Case of the Missing Bird Food and Deerly Beloved
One of the watershed events of the last couple of weeks was Helen getting her bird feeders put up in the yard. And since we are not cursed by squirrels in this part of the city, she has started using a seed mix that has peanuts mixed in with it.
There has been some traffic to the feeders, but we noticed that one feeder has emptied out pretty quickly. Since a lot of larger birds have been landing on it we though that maybe the seed was being knocked to the ground - but no sign of that.
The case was solved this morning - Helen looked out the window in time to see a deer feeding at the feeder. The picture was taken through the window so not the greatest but here it is:
Since there was a fairly large group in the yard - I got the video camera but only got a few seconds until the battery died! Click the arrow at the bottom left of the image to run the film.
There has been some traffic to the feeders, but we noticed that one feeder has emptied out pretty quickly. Since a lot of larger birds have been landing on it we though that maybe the seed was being knocked to the ground - but no sign of that.
The case was solved this morning - Helen looked out the window in time to see a deer feeding at the feeder. The picture was taken through the window so not the greatest but here it is:
Since there was a fairly large group in the yard - I got the video camera but only got a few seconds until the battery died! Click the arrow at the bottom left of the image to run the film.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Limping Deer
This morning we noticed that one of the deer that hangs out in the lot behind us is limping - not using one it's back legs at all. We will keep an eye out and call animal control if the situation doesn't improve.
The Trip to Ka-Nee-Tah
On Thursday Robert invited me to go on one of the last motorcycle rides of the season. The group consisted of mostly retired professionals who have been part of a local club for years. The round-trip was about 180 miles.
Ka-Nee-Tah is an Indian resort and casino, you can see the facility on their website: http://kahneeta.com/lodge-hot-springs-central-oregon-resort
The weather was great on the ride out - a little cool but nice. We ate lunch at the report's restaurant. Service was just a notch about bad, the waitstaff seemed more interested in talking to each other than waiting on us, there where seven that went to the restaurant. The food was OK.
We didn't spend much time looking at the place but I'd categorize it as "dated". Seems like they need to spend some money on refurbishing the place.
The ride back was a mixed bag. We took a lot of back roads and the scenery was beautiful. However for about half of the ride it was lightly raining and some of you know that I do not like to ride in the rain - esp when it has been dry for weeks. It means that the roads can really be slick with slim.
Anyway we made it back safely and for the first time I got to ride in one of those groups of motorcycles on the highway that annoy some of you!
Ka-Nee-Tah is an Indian resort and casino, you can see the facility on their website: http://kahneeta.com/lodge-hot-springs-central-oregon-resort
The weather was great on the ride out - a little cool but nice. We ate lunch at the report's restaurant. Service was just a notch about bad, the waitstaff seemed more interested in talking to each other than waiting on us, there where seven that went to the restaurant. The food was OK.
We didn't spend much time looking at the place but I'd categorize it as "dated". Seems like they need to spend some money on refurbishing the place.
The ride back was a mixed bag. We took a lot of back roads and the scenery was beautiful. However for about half of the ride it was lightly raining and some of you know that I do not like to ride in the rain - esp when it has been dry for weeks. It means that the roads can really be slick with slim.
Anyway we made it back safely and for the first time I got to ride in one of those groups of motorcycles on the highway that annoy some of you!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Yes We Made It!
This is the only picture we took on the trip out here! This is heading into Bend from the east, you can just barley see Mt Bachelor and Sisters in the distance. This was around 11:30 on Wednesday the 22nd.
We are sorry we have not taken the time to update the blog! We did call!
It was a fast trip - Cheyenne WY on Monday night - Boise Idaho on Tuesday night - and Ladera Rd Wednesday night!
We unpacked half the truck on Wednesday and the rest on Thursday morning! Everything made it just fine - still can't believe all Bill got on the truck!
It has been a busy few days just putting things away and trying to organize the garage - but we are getting close.
60 during the day and upper 20's at night - sky is full of stars! However Hay fever has a hold on everyone here due to a late spring! However the mold allergies are not a problem here!!!!
I promise to post again before the week is out - with pictures!
(Thanks for being patient Dixie!)
And - no I have not seen the gal/guy family - I have not been downtown for my special coffee either! Perhaps before the week is over!
More Later,
Helen
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thanks and On The Road Again
First of all I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to come to the party, call or drop by the house to say good-bye to us. It's been particularly hard to say good-bye to family - I especially have trouble articulating my feelings, I'm just too good at stuffing them inside. I guess at some level it really isn't good-bye it's just so-long until the next time, but right now it seems so permanent. So to all of you - we love you and keep us in your minds and hearts until we see each other again!
On a lighter note: We hit the road this AM with a truck and pulling the car on a trailer behind. As I write this we are sitting in a Comfort Inn in Cheyenne Wyoming - our goal for the day. The highlight of the trip so far has been turning around in Cabelas' world headquarters parking lot when we overshot the Perkins in Sydney WY. Cabelas' has a campground, we could have slept in the car - oh wait..... the car is full!
From Helen:
Only wildlife sightings so far has been several acres of adorable Prairie Dogs! (the larger variety of the little buggers that dig holes in Leawood) They do at least have mounds, so you don't step in holes. I am sure the farmer that owned the land loves them - or was it a Prairie Dog Ranch and that was the feeding lot????
Also a rather small flock of Wild Turkeys - and of few deer resting by the side of the road.
Pretty uneventful in the animal division.
Weather has been sunny and windy and a little rain as we headed into Cheyenne, but only enough to smear the bugs on the windshield.
All for now, the "comfort" of this inn is calling!
Pictures tomorrow - promise (maybe)!
On a lighter note: We hit the road this AM with a truck and pulling the car on a trailer behind. As I write this we are sitting in a Comfort Inn in Cheyenne Wyoming - our goal for the day. The highlight of the trip so far has been turning around in Cabelas' world headquarters parking lot when we overshot the Perkins in Sydney WY. Cabelas' has a campground, we could have slept in the car - oh wait..... the car is full!
From Helen:
Only wildlife sightings so far has been several acres of adorable Prairie Dogs! (the larger variety of the little buggers that dig holes in Leawood) They do at least have mounds, so you don't step in holes. I am sure the farmer that owned the land loves them - or was it a Prairie Dog Ranch and that was the feeding lot????
Also a rather small flock of Wild Turkeys - and of few deer resting by the side of the road.
Pretty uneventful in the animal division.
Weather has been sunny and windy and a little rain as we headed into Cheyenne, but only enough to smear the bugs on the windshield.
All for now, the "comfort" of this inn is calling!
Pictures tomorrow - promise (maybe)!
Monday, September 22, 2008
The New Kitchen
At long last the new kitchen is completed and the house is back on the market! Here are the pictures of the new kitchen... DOUBLE CLICK on the image for larger pictures.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Optimizing Your Workspace
Here in Bend we have a wonderful island in the kitchen area that is about 4ft x 6ft. Since I have many needs (and no spouse here to tell me otherwise) this is the current view of that island:
Note that there are NO dirty dishes on this island - this is a work area! All of the dirty dishes are stacked up in the sink where they belong! Hopefully they will be moved to the dishwasher at some point, but that is a low priority for me now.
Note that there are NO dirty dishes on this island - this is a work area! All of the dirty dishes are stacked up in the sink where they belong! Hopefully they will be moved to the dishwasher at some point, but that is a low priority for me now.
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Trashing of Unit 1112
It could have been a lot worse - I'm saying this now since I need to keep things in the proper perspective.
Yesterday I started the process of cleaning up one of our two rental units. They are of course by terms of the rental agreement to be left clean when the renter leaves. Not so much so this time around...
The refrigerator was TOTALLY filled with food - most of it way past the end of it's useful life. For an example - the freezer:
And what is that gunk in the bottom of the crisper drawer?
The bathroom? Well just a couple of examples:
The cabinets had a few good examples also:
And lastly - how dirty can a floor get?
Yesterday I started the process of cleaning up one of our two rental units. They are of course by terms of the rental agreement to be left clean when the renter leaves. Not so much so this time around...
The refrigerator was TOTALLY filled with food - most of it way past the end of it's useful life. For an example - the freezer:
And what is that gunk in the bottom of the crisper drawer?
The bathroom? Well just a couple of examples:
The cabinets had a few good examples also:
And lastly - how dirty can a floor get?
Monday, August 18, 2008
First Morning in Bend - and what about that lock?
Well this is my first full day back in Bend. Helen stayed in KC to watch over the last of the work on the kitchen. I came to Bend because our friends and partners Robert and Diane are going on a two-week motorcycle road trip and there are things that need to be attended to at our condos.
Of course I woke up about 5:30 AM this morning - the old body is still on KC time. So I got dressed and decided to get some things from the garage, closed the door behind me and when I went to go back in the house - LOCKED DOOR. So I spent from then until 8:15 waiting to get Robert to bring his key over to let me back in the house.
The only "good" thing about this is that Robert said that Helen did the same thing when she was here last month! Don't remember her telling me that...
Of course I woke up about 5:30 AM this morning - the old body is still on KC time. So I got dressed and decided to get some things from the garage, closed the door behind me and when I went to go back in the house - LOCKED DOOR. So I spent from then until 8:15 waiting to get Robert to bring his key over to let me back in the house.
The only "good" thing about this is that Robert said that Helen did the same thing when she was here last month! Don't remember her telling me that...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
What The?
Yesterday Helen and I went to our favorite (?) bank to get into our safe deposit box.
The summer intern (my assumption not confirmed by any real info) led us to our box only to discover a "button" stuck in the key slot of the box. Confused Look from intern. Intern says "I'll Be Back". Fear arises - isn't that what the Terminator said?
In the meantime we are roaming around the vault and see a sheet of paper that tells us what the button means. The color was black - so apparently I am deceased!
Intern returns with a Real Employee (one who we assume is experienced). At this point we are both laughing our ____es off - this is pretty much par for the course with us these days. Real Employee says to Helen: "are you Mildred"? - apparently my existence is dependent upon my spouse identifying herself, WITHOUT any form of identification.
SO - we are given access to the box. The explanation, which seems reasonable since it came from the Real Employee is that people bring their children into the room and the children move the buttons around.
No further comment.....
The summer intern (my assumption not confirmed by any real info) led us to our box only to discover a "button" stuck in the key slot of the box. Confused Look from intern. Intern says "I'll Be Back". Fear arises - isn't that what the Terminator said?
In the meantime we are roaming around the vault and see a sheet of paper that tells us what the button means. The color was black - so apparently I am deceased!
Intern returns with a Real Employee (one who we assume is experienced). At this point we are both laughing our ____es off - this is pretty much par for the course with us these days. Real Employee says to Helen: "are you Mildred"? - apparently my existence is dependent upon my spouse identifying herself, WITHOUT any form of identification.
SO - we are given access to the box. The explanation, which seems reasonable since it came from the Real Employee is that people bring their children into the room and the children move the buttons around.
No further comment.....
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
THE SINK
How difficult can it be to connect the drains on a new two-sided sink for the kitchen. After all you can safely ASSume that the locations and heights of the existing drain pipes in the wall will work just swell with the NEW sink mounted in NEW cabinets.
WELL,
The horizontal locations are OK - heights not so much so. To make a long story shorter, one pipe was unuseable and both sinks had to be piped to one of the drain pipes. Oh, and since the new cabinets have bottoms that are higher than the old cabinets coming directly out of the wall to a new "P" trap - not enough room.
SO,
Remove the old fitting coming out of the wall and put in an elbow to get some height. The old fitting proved to be a bit stubborn - in fact it broke where it entered the wall - much cursing and grinding ensued.
OH,
Drains for new sink are back further than old sink, so after the turn is made - end of drain from wall will be too far forward. The ensing piping ends up crossing over and under itself - looks like a gerbil tunnell designed by a drunk - but it doesn't leak - at least not yet.
AND,
How many trips did this take to Lowes, Home Depot, the Plumbers Friend and ACE Hardware? I lost track, suffice to say that it may have been cheaper to get a real plumber to do the work.
WELL,
The horizontal locations are OK - heights not so much so. To make a long story shorter, one pipe was unuseable and both sinks had to be piped to one of the drain pipes. Oh, and since the new cabinets have bottoms that are higher than the old cabinets coming directly out of the wall to a new "P" trap - not enough room.
SO,
Remove the old fitting coming out of the wall and put in an elbow to get some height. The old fitting proved to be a bit stubborn - in fact it broke where it entered the wall - much cursing and grinding ensued.
OH,
Drains for new sink are back further than old sink, so after the turn is made - end of drain from wall will be too far forward. The ensing piping ends up crossing over and under itself - looks like a gerbil tunnell designed by a drunk - but it doesn't leak - at least not yet.
AND,
How many trips did this take to Lowes, Home Depot, the Plumbers Friend and ACE Hardware? I lost track, suffice to say that it may have been cheaper to get a real plumber to do the work.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
THE WEDDING!
Jennifer & Ryan's wedding was last Sunday in Santa Barbara. The weather was beautiful and the site was perfect - a small park on a hill overlooking the city.
A few pictures...
The kids honored their fathers by having them officiate at the ceremony. My picture with them first...
Dan's next (but checkout Ryan's smile - double click for a better look - 9.8 out of 10)...
The mothers where honored by giving readings at the ceremony, here is Pat with Jennifer. My apologies to Sue, Ryan's mom, as I don't have a picture of her giving her reading.
The kiss and the departure....
And finally, Sue and Dan together at the reception...
A few pictures...
The kids honored their fathers by having them officiate at the ceremony. My picture with them first...
Dan's next (but checkout Ryan's smile - double click for a better look - 9.8 out of 10)...
The mothers where honored by giving readings at the ceremony, here is Pat with Jennifer. My apologies to Sue, Ryan's mom, as I don't have a picture of her giving her reading.
The kiss and the departure....
And finally, Sue and Dan together at the reception...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Kitchen - Progress!
Just a reminder of where we where a couple of weeks ago:
The new cabinets arrived on Tuesday - the installers are not completely done yet but here is what the place looks like now. All cabinets are in place and we are waiting for the granite people to come tomorrow to make a pattern to cut the top.
The new cabinets arrived on Tuesday - the installers are not completely done yet but here is what the place looks like now. All cabinets are in place and we are waiting for the granite people to come tomorrow to make a pattern to cut the top.
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Fire
Just when we thought things couldn't get more "interesting" in our lives - FIRE! Before we go on with this the good news is that we are fine (just more depressed than usual) and the work in the kitchen is going well thanks to a first-rate plasterer.
The Story
We heard a "pop" and when Helen went to investigate she noticed that the electric clothes dryer was not running, when she opened it up there was steam and the first hints of smoke.
This is a picture of the area where the fire was - the fire department moved the dryer out, it was stacked on top of the washer that you see in the picture.
Here is a shot of the dryer. The fire chief thinks that the drum seized up and that is what caused the dryer to overheat and catch fire.
Of course the water that they used to put out the fire had to go somewhere. The water went into the finished ceiling in the basement family room. So we hustled to get the ceiling down to stop the water from migrating into the finished wall in the basement.
The Story
We heard a "pop" and when Helen went to investigate she noticed that the electric clothes dryer was not running, when she opened it up there was steam and the first hints of smoke.
This is a picture of the area where the fire was - the fire department moved the dryer out, it was stacked on top of the washer that you see in the picture.
Here is a shot of the dryer. The fire chief thinks that the drum seized up and that is what caused the dryer to overheat and catch fire.
Of course the water that they used to put out the fire had to go somewhere. The water went into the finished ceiling in the basement family room. So we hustled to get the ceiling down to stop the water from migrating into the finished wall in the basement.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Now you see it, now you don't and the case of the phantom microwave
It's been over a month since I published anything - sorry about that but we are keeping busy!
This post will be all about the continuing story of trying to sell a house in this lousy market. You may or may not be familiar with our place but we decided that we need to make a few "minor" updates to the house to make it more appealing to prospective buyers. And at the top of the list was replacing the cabinets and counter tops in the 50-year old kitchen.
So here are a few pictures to give you the idea of what is happening...
STEP 1 - the problem door
Next to our family room there is a small bedroom with a door to the central hallway and another to the family room. The door to the family room has been a problem as people have been "confused" that the room has two exists - so we decided to remove the pocket door between the bedroom and the family room
Here we are getting the opening framed in:
And just before installing the final board to close up the opening (at least on the family room side). Please note that this last board was custom crafted by the Author!
Step 2 - the wall come tumbling down!
So - rotating 180 degrees from the above pictures we have the door (on the left) between the family room and the kitchen.
Wouldn't it just be swell to open this up a little? OK - here goes...
Step 3 - demolition!
One closeup view before:
And during demo:
Step 4 - more later
The case of the phantom microwave:
When we where talking with the company about the cabinets - they said will you have microwave? To make a long story short they talked us into a shelf for a microwave - a shelf so that counter tops aren't being used up with a microwave. The problem is that the shelf (and upper cabinets) are only 12 inches deep - but they had a solution: a microwave that they have spec's for years (a STANDARD - it NEVER CHANGES!)from GE that would fit both the shallow depth and the width of the shelf. Of course when we went to purchase the model it was not longer available - but was replaced by a new model ( more expensive of course!)
This post will be all about the continuing story of trying to sell a house in this lousy market. You may or may not be familiar with our place but we decided that we need to make a few "minor" updates to the house to make it more appealing to prospective buyers. And at the top of the list was replacing the cabinets and counter tops in the 50-year old kitchen.
So here are a few pictures to give you the idea of what is happening...
STEP 1 - the problem door
Next to our family room there is a small bedroom with a door to the central hallway and another to the family room. The door to the family room has been a problem as people have been "confused" that the room has two exists - so we decided to remove the pocket door between the bedroom and the family room
Here we are getting the opening framed in:
And just before installing the final board to close up the opening (at least on the family room side). Please note that this last board was custom crafted by the Author!
Step 2 - the wall come tumbling down!
So - rotating 180 degrees from the above pictures we have the door (on the left) between the family room and the kitchen.
Wouldn't it just be swell to open this up a little? OK - here goes...
Step 3 - demolition!
One closeup view before:
And during demo:
Step 4 - more later
The case of the phantom microwave:
When we where talking with the company about the cabinets - they said will you have microwave? To make a long story short they talked us into a shelf for a microwave - a shelf so that counter tops aren't being used up with a microwave. The problem is that the shelf (and upper cabinets) are only 12 inches deep - but they had a solution: a microwave that they have spec's for years (a STANDARD - it NEVER CHANGES!)from GE that would fit both the shallow depth and the width of the shelf. Of course when we went to purchase the model it was not longer available - but was replaced by a new model ( more expensive of course!)
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