Dishwasher

Last Sunday Naomi and I went out to our land to go for a hike and put the camper up on blocks. Good thing I brought the chainsaw as a tree had fallen over the road. We had a really nice lunch with my parents and then stopped by the farm on our way home. Should be able to get a turkey for Thanksgiving and some soup chickens from them for our new chest freezers. Some venison on the way too. 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had Friendsgiving last night. Ended up being a lot more people there than expected, and our friends did a great job of hosting in their cute little house by the lake. Fun to see what they have done with the place. The food was great and we were all able to make some new friends. The girls did not want to leave! 

Naomi and the girls have been bugging me since we moved in about the lack of a dishwasher, so I finally put one in this week. The install was a pain but it went okay. Managed to fix the leaky drain as well. Plumbing is definitely not my favorite. It's louder than I hoped for, but oh well. Should get the job done. They had a nice sale going. 

Hooray for chainsaws.

The cabinet was tricky to uncouple.

So corroded that I needed to invent a tool to get it apart.

Came right off once the leverage was there.

It works!

Marshmallow's Return

We haven't seen the albino deer, Marshmallow, around our house for the past year. She has been hanging out a few blocks east of here. Now she is back and she brought some friends. Fun to see more of her again. 

I just ran into a snag with the article I wrote for a local publication. The topic was an interview with an immigrant and their thoughts on life in Marquette. With the shift in the political climate, this person is now apprehensive about drawing unwanted attention, so it looks like it might not be published. Disappointing, but understandable. 

Thursday was my birthday and we had a lot of fun! Naomi was able to work from home, so we managed to pick out some tiles for the basement remodel. My parents took us out for lunch. Iron Bay was closed but we had a great meal at the Cajun place. Amélie came home sick from school, but was feeling better soon. Naomi made a really nice dinner and some delicious cheesecake. We also got to watch the girls figure skate and they made mw some amazing birthday presents!

My parents spent the night, helped out with a few things in the morning, and then we went for a hike after lunch. They took the girls home with them after school. It's been a while since Naomi and I had some time to ourselves! Made some good progress yesterday. Today we will take a little walk on our land before picking up the girls. We also plan to stop by the farm and see the new llamas with the girls on our way home. Just about ready for snow! Ahead of schedule on my checklist. 

She's back!

Learning all about compost.

Great birthday lunch!

Skating practice.

Abigail's present.

Amélie's present.

More than most hunters saw on deer day.

Shooting Class

My neighbor and I had never shot before, so we figured that since we lived in the UP we should probably give it a try. Oddly enough, Naomi has shot before, so she didn't join us. The instructor was really good, and after the classroom part which happened to take place in a church, we ended up way out in the boonies at this gun range which was really just someone's house. Very outspoken MAGA guy. Signs saying "your on camera's" and so forth. My highly educated neighbor, with both parents from India, was rather concerned about the reception he might receive.

In the end, we both had a great connection with the guy who was very welcoming and (after he unloaded a few conspiracy theories) talked about the different countries he had lived in and how he was one of the few remaining gunsmiths. Interesting to get to see his workshop and learn about his work. Quite the craftsman. Retired from the iron mine but working harder than ever as the demand is tremendous. The range itself was fun and we both enjoyed the cultural experience.

Naomi had a particularly rough week with some trouble at work and a rather shocking election result. The girls felt upset and disappointed too. I think it will just accelerate the inevitable outcomes of climate change and hopefully wake some people up and motivate them to focus more on their local communities instead of Washington. 

Made some good progress on the basement remodel and chopped up more firewood. Have barely needed to use the furnace so far this year. Working on the electrical stuff and framed out the new kitchen cabinet. Ordered a couple chest freezers as well - turns out two half size versions are the same price as one full size freezer, so we went for two smaller ones as that gives us more flexibility and options. Just one of many unexpected things that popped up this week. 

Naomi and the girls made some great pizza!

Long way up.

Makes me a little bit nervous to work up there.

 

Staircase Flip

This week was devoted to getting the staircase turned around and the living room opened up. Managed to get everything done in the anticipated time frame, so that is always nice. Rarely happens. Dust wasn't too bad as I hooked the vacuum up to the sawzall. Still need to get the basement organized so the workshop is usable and the pile of drywall in the garage needs to be broken down and squeezed into the bin. Sure wish common building materials were not designed for the landfill!

Had to do some tricky rewiring and my dad helped with that along with some demo work and rotating the actual staircase. That was definitely a two person job at least. Now the basement remodel can really get underway as I should be able to do most of the rest by myself. Just need to pick up another load of hemlock. Tuesday I took a break from the project to help out Dominic and brought back a few cedar boards as well. 

Amélie found a wagon that someone was giving away. She cleaned it up and put some spray paint on it. Also made a new bottom out of an old floor. Fun to see her so enthusiastic about a project. It took her the whole day! She used it yesterday to go pick up a round glass table that one of the neighbors was giving away. 

Grammie came up for Halloween. The girls got to go figure skating right after school. By the time we were ready to put costumes on Amélie realized she had forgotten hers at school, so we improvised and turned her into a little baker in about five minutes. Then we went to the neighbors who were hosting a few families for pizza, and the went out to trick or treat. It was cold and rainy, but the kids all had fun. Dutch weather. Ugh. 

Got the shed partially organized yesterday. Sure is nice to put garbage wood to good use. Working on the seasonal swap more today and then the focus is on electrical. Strange that instead of sleeping in with the time change I woke up early. Nice to have some extra time, but I sure wish they would cancel this nonsense. Always tricky with scheduling classes with the Chinese who don't change their time. 

Amélie's new wagon.

Demo begins.

No big dust problems. It was raining mouse turds from the attic, though. 

A little Halloween present. Word magnets for the fridge.

Opening it up!

Trick or Treat.

Face-full of flour. 

Grandpa's still got it!

MC Escher. 

In its new place. 

Finally, organization!