Matters go home - AGAIN

Truck news

2012-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

We can't manage our rural lifestyle without having a pickup truck. There are 1001 needs- from going to the dump, to the lumber store and hauling manure or other garden supplies. Sadly, we sold our trusty "ole yeller" 1966 Ford pickup when we lived in Sequim (as we had regular garbage pickup and a Buick station wagon that could haul a 4x8 sheet of plywood).

When we moved back to Kettle Falls we needed a pickup. Kurt found this one on craigs list-- an upgrade for him-- to a 1967 Ford pickup.

The new ford pickup turned out not to be as reliable as ole yeller. Within a year it was parked with a blown engine.
Fast forward to the mild winter we are having-- perfect for doing engine work.
So Kurt pulled the engine and sent it out to be rebuilt. He couldn't be happier with the work the machine shop did. Here is what the engine looked like when it came back

With the engine out he has been cleaning up the engine compartment

The engine got reinstalled this past weekend

Now he is awaiting the return of the carburator and it will be time to start 'er up.

Getting out in the snow

2012-01-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Since we chose to move back to snow country we made a pack that we would embrace the cold and snow-- by not complaining about any of it from onset until mid February. (And after that we are free to wish for warmer climes.)

This year it hasn't been too insufferable since we only got our first dose of plow-able snow on Friday. So, before we miss the opportunity, we went snow shoeing today. The measly 6" out our back door wasn't worth the effort so we drove up the mountain pass across the river and found a place to walk in 2 and a 1/2 feet of snow. We had to break our own trail and it turne out to be a little more exercise than we intended--- In hindsight, we have decided that walking in 6"would have been just fine. Anyway, here are a few pictures...

Catch-up time- First, Fall projects

2012-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Between our failing camera and really not that much going on, we haven't posted for a while. So here goes a little catch-up on projects and life in general..

SHOP UPGRADES:
In October Kurt installed a new beam to carry the weight of the car-shop roof and eliminate the need for a center post. Here are two pictures of the new beam in place. For those that don't know, this is the original shop that Kurt built when we first lived here. At that time he labeled the shelves for where items should be stored. When we moved back in 2006 it was funny to be able to put tools and supplies right back on their old shelves.

One of the reasons for elimnating the post was so the TR3, that came back to KF in October, could be parked inside and still leave room for working on another vehicle in the other side of the shop. So here is the triumph back in his old home. The little scraped area on the cement near the drivers door marks the location of the old center post in the shop- so you can see how it's removal has benefited the use of the space.

Another shot of the triumph.... and notice the new garage door on the right in the background- that was Kurt's November project...see next pics.

When Kurt built the car shop in the 80's, all we could afford was home made swinging doors for the big opening. They were heavy, leaked a lot of cold air and couldn't be used in the winter when the snow piled up outside.

So you can imagine that Kurt is a happy camper now with this new, insulated garage door that he installed in November. And, doesn't it improve the look of the old shop!

And finally- Kurt's 2011 Christmas present was a Parts Washer. Now, instead of 5-gallon buckets or an old bathtub being used to de-grease car parts, he has this official tub on legs to do the work. Of couse he had to raise it on a box to make it a comfortable height for him.

New (to us) furniture

2011-11-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ever since we moved into our remodeled living room last fall I have wished for a leather couch. Especially since our wood stove is so dusty and I figured leather would clean up better than fabric.

I have been perusing craig's list for 12 months- often seeing a set I liked but always they were too far away to bother checking them out. And then, this week, a leather couch and chair shows up on craigs list and the seller was 15 miles from me. I was an easy sell.....

The pictures don't show very well that they are actually navy blue leather. I am delighted.

Triumph on the move

2011-11-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

October sure flew by. Kurt worked intently to get everything around the KF house buttoned up for winter- alas no pictures.
Then he spent a week in Denver helping Amy and Tim get their new house move-in ready- also no pictures.

At the end of the week he drove the TR3 from Denver back to Kettle Falls. Here are the few pictures from that event.....

First the car made the trip to the new house. Lilly and Mark immediately wanted to drive it... and for some reason Lilly has no clothes on....

(well, she is 2)

BTW- that is Lisa's and Betty's front yard behind Amy in this picture...'

Mark, on the other hand decided to wear grandpa's sweatshirt-below.

(and this is Amy and Tim's front yard in this picture)

Then Josie had to have a turn in the drivers seat....

Then it was time to say goodbye to Grandpa.

Let's see... do I have everything....

Kurt left Denver to head north on a sunny and warm afternoon. Here he is driving along and he has the top down and he isn't even wearing gloves.

Later you can see in the odometer reflection that he is a little more bundled up-- and you can't really tell that he is in a 40 mph Wyoming side wind.

Nice shadow....

The next day he went with the top up- but it didn't really offer much more warmth.

This was the disheartening last picture of his trip--- heading into snow clouds. Turns out he made it over the Rockies (17 degrees and light snow falling) without a hitch.

and now the TR3 is safely parked in the KF garage where the Denverites can visit it

until they have more than a one car garage.

We love our Garden shredder

2011-09-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Shredding Saturday....we cut down and shredded our corn patch in a mere two hours on Saturday. Here is Kurt just starting to cut down the stalks. Remember he is 6'7" tall- so that corn is towering over him.

Working together we had the all 15 rows cut down pretty quickly. Then we rolled in the gas powered shredder- the red thing in this picture

Here is Kurt starting to feed the stalks into the shredder. Once I got the hang of it he left the task to me. The shredder chewed up a stalk in a matter of seconds. Much better than what I have done for the last two years- using the lawn mower.

And a short while later- ta da! All the corn stalks are turned into little tiny peices. Can't wait to see how the shredder goes through the sunflower stalks later.

After the shredding adventure it was time for another picking of tomatoes- easily 50 lbs! And the last ears of corn. Sad to see the corn season end--but then my waistline will benefit from dropping my daily diet of corn on the cob.

September outdoor celebrations

2011-09-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

#1 The fire wood is split and stacked. Kurt took a picture of Joanie hoisting up the last few rounds- But really that was all I did- he did the rest.

Here is the whole stack-- it is 9 rows deep. We should be plenty warm this winter.

#2 Kurt finished the little rock patio infront of the livingroom window.... (Thanks to Jody for helping to get this started)

#3 The 6 pine trees that got cut down this spring are finally bucked up and stacked to dry for a season.

#4,5,6, 7.....
In a flurry of activity this month, Kurt added an extension to the upper deck and then moved the hot tub there plus he re-wired the tub to include a shut off switch and put the wire in conduit. He has started a railing for the upperdeck and stairs are coming soon. THEN he tore up the section of old lower deck and put down redwood boards and sealed those. And lastly we bought a new blue :) hot tub cover and a lifter which he just installed yesterday.

Salsa Saturday

2011-09-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Working from 8 to noon and 1 to 4 today I chopped, cooked and canned two stock pots of salsa. Made 15 and a half quarts...Here are the raw ingrediants....

And here is the finished canned salsa................

The new rock wall

2011-08-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Home projects have been on the back burner all summer. But this week Kurt finished the rock trim under the living room window.

He found all the rocks on our upper property. Now we need Lisa and Betty to come back to lay a rock patio on the ground in front of this.

Mark's early birthday gift

2011-07-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

While we were on vacation at a condo in the mountains with the kids and grandkids- it seemed like the perfect time to give Mark his birthday present- a little early- a 2-wheeler bike. Here are Grandpa and Mark discussing the intracacies of bike construction......

Grandpa doing the final adjustments...

Mark and Grandma checking the fit

Looks good Mark says

Now out to the parking area for the first ride-- lots of concentration needed for those first few pedals.....

Now show the assembled adults how you feel about the bike---all smiles

Then ride off into the sunset.........with daddy right behind...

Wind River Canyon

2011-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Suggestion: Put a trip through the WIND RIVER CANYON in Wyoming on your bucket list. It is only 34 miles long- but it is like one of those optical illusion carnival walks where you think you are going down hill but you are really going uphill.
As we entered the canyon I had this distinct feeling we were DESCENDING but infact we were traveling up-river and slightly uphill the whole way. Of course you can't really see it in the pictures- so you will just have to go there yourself.

To make it more convincing that you are desending, they have markers every couple of miles indicating the age of the rocks and they get older the farther you go...

When you pop out of the canyon you are on a plateau with a beautful view towards the Rockies.

Let a new era of camping begin!

2011-06-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

We have upgraded from tent camping to a mini motor home.
How cute is this??!! (It is 19 feet long, circa 1985 and gets 10-12 miles a gallon)

Here it is at our campsite at lake Sullivan this week. Our little MO HO was great! Get this- it has a built in biffy and shower stall and HOT running water-- So, I had a hot shower both days and dish washing was a breeze! And no middle of the night run to the outhouse. Hoo Ray!

Here is Kurt enjoying a gin and tonic on the second day of the camping trip-- with fresh ice cubes from the refrigerator-- another hoo ray!

We LOVE our new fire pit ring

2011-06-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

The kids surprised us on the day of our anniversary party with this new fire ring. We think it is just grand! Thank you so much!!

Though the weather did not cooperate for a campfire at our party, Kurt and I have since had several campfires- complete with hot dogs on a stick and s'mores.
In the evening the sun shines through the name openings

Kurt masters "Beer can Chicken"

2011-06-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

A successful BBQ dinner last night- two chickens cooked sitting upon cans of beer. Very tasty......and not burned a bit.....which is a vast improvement over the last time Kurt tried this recipe....

The last time the birds were left unattended for only a short while- but during that time the BBQ kicked itself into high gear-- when Kurt returned there were flames shooting out of all sides of the BBQ lid and this was the condition of the poor birds........................needless to say, we had hamburgers that night

Eureka! We hit WATER!

2011-06-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

We own 20 acres of wild hill side. Last year Kurt took the excavator up the hill and dug a bunch of test holes in areas that looked like natural water-run-off areas, hoping to find some surface water. NO luck last summer. BUT this week we took our first Spring walk up the hill and discovered a GUSHER (or so it seems to us). One of the test holes is filled with beautiful clear water seeping out of the hill side. It is overflowing at a rate we estimate to be 6 or 7 gallons a minute. This has created a new water course we have dubbed Matter Creek.

Another step in the kitchen upgrade

2011-05-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Kurt returned from a week of work in Denver and got right back to work on our kitchen. Finishing the drywall--dusty and time comsuming. By Thursday he was ready to spray on the texture--

It was a lot of work to get everything taped off....

Good bye terra cotta

On Friday we were able to repaint......hello Pueblo Sand- a nice golden yellow. It looks great with the new granite countertops

Our cute Josie

2011-04-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here is Josie trying to take a bite out of Kurt's knuckle- she seemed to think his finger made the perfect size teething surface....

It was chilly the whole time Lisa and Josie visited - so hats were required for afternoon walks. But then, she is very cute in a hat......
It took a dozen shots to catch a great smile---here is one.
Josie was very interested in looking around during the walk-- SO MUCH to see....

Turns out we didn't take that many pictures- but we got this one on the last morning. Josie in her great-grandmothers bed. Nice to see a 4th generation using the bed

Baby Josie comes to Kettle Falls

2011-04-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

Lisa and Josie are paying us a visit. Here they are arriving at Spokane airport- looks like the flight went ok!

Finally a look-see at Josie- whom we haven't seen since she was 10 days old

Josie was taking it all instride- especially when Grandpa was holding her

Soon we were home and after getting a roaring fire going Lisa had to strip down Josie because it was too hot!

Lisa and Josie will be here for a week- more pictures are sure to follow!

MORE progress in the kitchen :)

2011-04-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

Kurt was quite busy while Joanie was out of town for 6 days. He wasted no time taking out the old base cabinet......

and bringing in the new one.....

Lots of leveling and adjusting and then he was able to put on the countertop undelayment........LOOK knobs and drawer handles!
Then he turned his attention to mudding the ceiling drywall- some of which has been up for over a year (and some was new last month)
Seeing this picture- Joanie was really glad she was out of town during this stage!

Today he started laying out the granite tiles for the counter top. It is going to be spectacular!!!

New base cabinet from start to finish in two weeks!

2011-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

This base cabinet was stacked playwood and lumber on March 21st.

Here is Kurt with the nearly finished project on March 31st.

Notice all the features- 10 drawers! All with automatic closures....

this is before the final sanding and staining

Pretty cool, huh?

the stain went on on april 1 and he did 3 coats of varathane on Satuday.
Next pictures will be after the installation

starting to look like a kitchen

2011-03-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Although it is still FAR from done- we can finally see how it is going to look with the new arrangement in the kitchen. Here are the bones of the new arrangement...
Here is the master carpenter standing by his handywork

And guess what I am so happy about!!! A dishwasher-- yippee! And look at all that countertop space...

Another window to replace

2011-03-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

The original goal for the day was to finish the drywall around the new window on the right-- and by 11 am it was done

Then one thing lead to another---and we decided to take out the other window today....as expected the old window was poorly supported --as you can see the header beam only went part way across the top of the window...

Soon we had the window out- luckily the afternoon was relatively warm even though we had new snow on the ground this morning.

Here is the new window in place- notice the nice header that goes all the way to each end of the window! After getting this far we decided that was enough for today!

More window work

2011-03-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

First job on Friday was to insulate around the new window. We ended up taking the wall board off the little ceiling area--after noticing that there was no insulation in there either.

Kurt moved the ceiling light fixture while he was at it, then he put up some insulation.

New wallboard on the ceiling-before calling it a day and going fishing. He came home with a fish too!

Out with the old....

2011-03-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

The old sink cabinet came out on Thursday-- Here it is partially demolished.

And now it is all removed.

With time left in the day Kurt decided to change out the window on the right. This was the last original window remaining in the house. Here is the empty hole.

And now the new thermal pane slider window is in place.
And a look at the window from the outside

Day 3-new beam in and drywalled!

2011-03-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

Kurt is moving fast-
Here is where we were 3 days ago

Tonight the new beam is in place and covered in drywall. We gained 6 inches of head room. It makes the room look much more open.

New kitchen means demolition first

2011-03-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

Interior work started yesterday on the kitchen remodel. First day not too bad- Kurt 'just' took out the beam over the sink

Today it is a little more serious- cut the studs and insert a new beam- while holding up the wall with posts. Note stove is moved and dust everywhere. Dinner was take-out!

New kitchen- here we come!

2011-02-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

When Kurt isn't fishing he has been working in his woosdhop to construct new kitchen cabinets-- Here is the first unit- It will go in the corner under the window. The sink will be delivered any day. And we still have not decided on a countertop surface, so we are still a ways from installation.
In the meantime LOOK at this great cabinet work- dovetailed drawers, full tenoned doors and (although you can't see this) automatice closing drawer slides.

Kurt brings dinner home

2011-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Kurt has a new hobby. Can you guess what it is?

He's hooked now that he finally caught one.....

Kurt caught the bigger one and his fishing buddies gave him the only other fish caught this afternoon--so that we would have enough for a meal.

Christmas Gifts

2010-12-25T16:35:00.000-08:00

Josie is here

2010-12-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

Another task completed!

2010-12-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Kurt has been working on little finishing touches- today he completed a display shelf in the large niche that was once an opening into the livingrooom.
Here is the livingroom side of the opening- at the beginning of construction this spring.

mid-construction.....

and today (the window opening is covered over)

And here is the kitchen side of that wall...

as construction was beginning.....

And today- the old opening is filled in with a mirror and some custom fit shelves....

and the happy carpenter- with another job done!

It's a winter wonderland over here today

2010-12-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

Turkey with crab apple stuffing anyone?

2010-11-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

Our wild turkey flock finally discovered our loaded crabapple tree outside the kitchen window. In one day they have nearly picked it clean. Their technique is to send four birds into the tree to shake down the fruit.

Then the rest of the flock gobbles up the crabapples from the ground.

My flamigos take it all in stride.

Good bye Fall

2010-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a beautiful day here. I took some farewell pictures of my 2010 garden. And just in time too because we got our first winter snow on Sunday.
Here was one last bouquet from the garden....not bad for Nov. 20th.

Here is our garden all tucked under a bed of maple leaves. (with a few remaining green kale plants)

Notice the snow on the hills across the river...

Our house is all tucked in too....

Our remodel is turning out to surpass our expectations for a warm house. Even at 15 degrees today we had to damp down the wood stove to keep from being too hot!

One more view of the snowy hills across the lake...

Another Job done

2010-11-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Another job done! The opening to the kitchen is framed and trimmed!!!

Inside Update

2010-11-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Another project has been completed- the ceiling of our extreme makeover!

Here is the shiny new ceiling paneling....and the light fixture that Kurt made!

Here is the other end of the new ceiling and the other new light fixture.

Here is Kurt himself- taking a well deserved lie-down

And another view. We LOVE our new space-- Next we need to decide where to hang pictures.

EXTREME MAKEOVER- Inside Edition

2010-10-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

Over the last 6 months Kurt has nearly completed an EXTREME MAKEOVER of our livingroom. Here is the INSIDE story......

First a picture of where he started. One big room with 2 posts and a step down in the middle, mis-matched and untrimmed windows, several ceiling heights, wood stove in middle of the wall, difficult and cramped furniture spacing.

First task....support the roof with more posts....

open up side of house, insert beam, jack up beam to the ceiling...

Next, rip down drywall, pull up half the floor, dig out soil underneath and lay new joists and insulate.....

Put down new sub-floor. Yay- it is all one level....

Now, rewire the whole room and add a dropped ceiling

Next, tackle the two exterior walls-- take out windows, door and fireplace. Repair or replace all the studs, frame in new window openings.....

Next, install new windows, insulate the walls, hang new sheetrock, tape the seams, spray on texture and paint.....

Then, the only thing Kurt didn't do himself...we hired professionals to lay and finish the tamarack flooring........

Now- we are partially moved in. Look! the windows and baseboards are trimmed!

Two last jobs to go. One is underway- Kurt is putting more tamarack boards on half the ceiling.
The other is buiilding a half-wall and permanent steps at the opening to the kitchen.
I will let this picture of my last picking of flowers hold a place for those final projects....

Here is the first picture of the new ceiling going in......On Sunday

EXTREME MAKEOVER- Outside Edition

2010-10-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Since March Kurt has completed an EXTREME makeover of half our house. Here is where we started... leaky roof, sagging walls, mis-matched windows, uneven siding, and 30 year old decking.

There was lots of demolition- down came the old chimney

Off came the old roof , with Lisa Helping...

and up went the shiny new blue roof....

Later the old deck was removed- with Amy and Tim's help

New deck joists went down (and full skirting around the foundation and insulation under the house- with Betty's help)

By July 17th we had a lovely new redwood deck- just in time for the family reunion.

Meanwhile Kurt was completely rebuilding the two exterior walls.... Remove the siding, replace or repair each stud, frame in new window openings...

Until we had this......

and this

and finally this in October

The other wall got a similar makeover

new window holes

New siding

until finally in October we have this ....

Oh and a new chimney pipe ....

So, in case you are counting...new roof, new walls, new windows, new insulation, new deck, new chimney. The only reused item was half the door. That's pretty EXTREME!

and here we are today...

The new floor goes down

2010-09-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Day 3-First coat of sealer goes down- Isn't it beautiful!

Day one half the floor is down

Day 2- all the wood is down and first sanding is done

first canning of the season

2010-09-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Everything has been so late this season that I haven't even done any canning from the garden yet. Here is my first effort- 7 Qts of dill pickles. Here are the raw cucumbers and dill and garlic.....

and the finished products......

TA-DA!!!

2010-09-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Spray on the texture on Saturday........

Paint on Sunday.........

Drywall advances

2010-09-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Kurt is getting close now! The livingroom walls are all taped and today he will spray on the texture. Tomorrow we may start painting! Notice the yellow patch- that is the wall color. The flooring guys are coming on 9/21. So, we may be ready to move back into this room by 9/25. We have been out of the room since 3/5- so you can imagine that we are excited!

And by 9/25 we will be wanting evening fires to warm up the house- so here is the new stovepipe arrangement coming through the new roof- inside and outside views.....

A trip to Idaho

2010-09-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

We took an overnight trip to visit Tim and Kathy at their property in Idaho. Along the way we had may scenic views of Pend Oreille Lake.

They took us to another lake overlook at the top of the mountain near their property. We had another great view AND we found huckleberries!

Back at the property we set up our tent near their beautiful cedar trees...which unfortunately seem to be dying.....

They had offered a bed in their trailer- but we opted to rough it in the tent.

Later we had a nice campfire at this fire ring.

And a parting shot- here is the deluxe biffy at the property.

MORE house progress

2010-09-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Kurt has worked the last week to put up the first coat of mud on the drywall in the livingroom. He tells me we will be ready to paint next weekend!

Plus he has put a sealer on the new redwood deck.......NICE!

Excavator Man

2010-09-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Kurt has been digging around on the upper property...oh the things you can do when you own an excavator

First he built a new access road off the county road. It is rather steep- but we hope that will keep most people from trying it.

He has made two level view spots. Here is the lower one

It does have a rather nice view. (What do you think Betty and Lisa?)

Then you go up two more switchbacks to the second view pad......

Some day we might put a trailer on these spots. In the mean time it is a great place to take in the view (and now we can drive to them instead of hiking up the hill)

Quick remodel update

2010-08-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

More sheetrock has gone up

Mark turns 3 and shares his birthday party with Grandpa

2010-08-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

We had a joint birthday party for Mark and Kurt on July 27th. Here are the birthday boys in their matching shirts

Sometimes you have to get real close for Grandpa to hear what you are saying....

Lilly also enjoyed some of Grandpas time....

Two grandpas with their granddaughters....

Here is Lilly on about her 5th day of walking- still holding her hand out for balance..

what a sweetie...

Here is the cake Amy made for the boys...

time to blow out the candles...

One more present....

Mark still playing --well after the party was over...

Matter Family Reunion July 2010

2010-08-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the senior generation of Kurt's family--without George and Margaret

Kurt, Maureen, Kathy, Mary Jo and Jim above
And below are all the same- this time with spouses...(and missing Margaret, Bob and George)

Later George came and Mary Jo had left so here are Kurt, Kathy, Maureen, Jim and George

Here is the next generation...Jenny Amy, Tom, Molly, Lisa, Holly, Beth, Casey, Grady, Padric and Becky. We missed seeing 5 more cousins, (Joey, Karey, Tim, Gordy and Kate)

And here is our attempt to catch the next generation...

Did finally get this shot of Kateri holding Lilly and Matt, Tony, Mark, Evan standing and Key and Ryan sitting. We missed seeing Brenden and Grace.

Where do I begin?

2010-08-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have been TOO busy for the last month to do any postings. During that time we have hosted a 3 day family reunion for 40 people, entertained our daughters and their families (including our 2 exceptional grandchildren) for 3+ weeks, taken a 9 day trip along the WA, OR and CA coasts including the Redwoods and somewhere inbetween grown a huge garden and continued our home remodel.
Will start with the latest on the remodel....
Yesterday we started the sheetrocking of the livingroom- first task- hang the rock on half of the ceiling(the other half will be done in wood).'
Here is Kurt trying to figure out how to put together to machine we rented to hold up the sheetrock panels..

Here is the first sheet going up. The lifter is a god-send!

The third of six goes up

All six sheets are up and we got the lifter back to the rental shop quick enough to only be charged for half a day.

The new deck is done and the house is ready for company

2010-07-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Livingroom DE-construction is DONE!

2010-07-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

The 'little' project that started way back on 3/11 has finally turned a corner. All the structural problems with our livingroom are fixed!
The roof is supported and has new roofing so it no longer leaks...
here is Kurt with the new beam that is holding up the roof back in March...

Here is a picture of the new blue metal roof.....

The living room floor is all one level and is fully insulated. Here is the floor in early May...

Here are Betty and Joanie getting VERY dirty crawling under the livingroom to put up the insulation under the floor.- in late June.

the crawl space is sealed from little critters and has no hanging electrical wires- Here is a picture of the cement and wood skirting under the house...taken in early July...

both exterior walls are coverted from 2x4 to 2x6 studs - here is Kurt re-constucting the front wall and resizing the window openings for our new windows....picture taken this Sunday...

and the doors and windows have proper sized and supported headers!
Here are the last shots of the undersized headers

Here is the new framing

And here is how the house looks now! New windows inplace!

Oh, and did you notice the new deck- we wil finish the last part today or tomorrow.

New deck and windows take shape

2010-07-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Time for a new deck!

2010-07-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

With everyone home we undertook the next stage of our remodeling- rebuilding the deck. Here are Lisa, Kurt and Tim starting to pull up the old deck. Somewhere we have a picture of Kurt and Lisa laying this orignial deck- Lisa is about three years olds....she was just about as helpful as Mark- who was lurking underneath the deck...

Mark popped up in every opening we made...

Progress

By the end of the day the deck was mostly gone and the wall was dismantled too.....

Next the door was moved to the right

Then the old window was removed- a replacement window is on order...

After wrapping one wall in Tyvek we moved on to sealing in the crawl space

Betty was the hero of the next step- she spent one whole day underneath the house putting up rigid insulation- and she never complained even though it was dirty, uncomfortable work. Thank you Betty!.

Kurt had to go under once in a while to give guidance and suggestions. (Ellie, Catharines dog, also had a few things to say about the work)

After everyone left Kurt did the final sealing off steps- wood and metal barriers

And finally- a concrete base and spray foam insulation for all the remaining cracks. We are going to have a toasty house this winter!

Family visit- round 1

2010-07-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lisa, Amy, Tim, Mark and Lilly are here for a week+ visit. We have been having a blast with everyone here- We take wagon walks everyday

and have enjoyed many meals outdoors

Mark is in his element- digging in the dirt, finding strawberries in the garden, riding on Grandpa's excavator, and 'swimming'

And sometimes, but not often, we wear him out so much that he just falls asleep where he is sitting....

We took Lilly to meet Silver the horse (here I am making sure Silver decides to eat the carrot in my hand- and not Lilly's foot)

She wasn't so sure she liked Silver

We miss not having Betty here for round 1- but she is in constant contact via cell phone.

Finally, we turn the hammer around

2010-07-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

The interior of our livingroom remodel has moved from demolition to construction. The floor is all one level, the new roofing is on and recently Kurt put in the ceiling joists that will hold up the sheetrock. He was forced into doing interior work because the weather for most of June was crappy. Here he is cutting something- using the umbrella to keep the saw dry.

Here are some of the new ceiling rafters. Besides a lot of shoring-up he has also worked on wiring and foundation stuff.

The ceiling awaits insulation and wall board. The slanted ceiling will be done in wood.

Grands are grand

2010-05-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Kurt and I were able to spend the better part of a week in Denver in May. Relatively few pictures were taken but here is a sampling.

Lilly is at that -pull-yourself-to-standing-at-every-chance stage. I happened to catch on film the one time she stood up and let go with both hands....

With Lilly learning new things everyday, Mark did not garner his usual amount of attention....and he would let you know he didn't like that by coming and jumping in your lap when you were playing with Lilly.

Lilly would not keep a hat on her head when out in the bright Denver sun- so here Kurt is trying to hold it on her head..

Cute!

More cute...

Lilly follows Mark everywhere- here I managed to get them both in one shot.

Lilly and daddy

busy girl

okay grandma, I will pose for another picture...

And here is Mark trying to get in on the picture action..

Yeah! flower season

2010-05-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

We have been busy in the yard and garden

2010-05-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

new sub floor IS IN!!

2010-05-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

The new plywood floor is now in. Our livingroom no longer has a step down in the middle of the room. YAY! Kurt is switching gears to start working on some outside projects. He will return to the house project later in the week. Next step- move windows and door.

Here was the first course of plywood going down.

Kurt has turned the corner now...

2010-04-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

He is finally at the rebuilding stage. The new floor joists are going down...

Tomorrow we will cover the root cellar again- to be sealed in until 'someone' decides to knock a hole from the basement through to the root cellar.

The latest progress from the work site

2010-04-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Kurt has been plugging along at the next step of the livingroom remodel. He has removed half the flooring and taken down the sheetrock from the 2 exterior walls and the ceiling.
Yesterday he started on the first re-building step- getting ready to lay the new floor joists which will be level with the top of the old root cellar. He needs to cut slots in the root cellar collar to drop in the joists- like you can see in this picture.

To lower the floor he needs to lower the level of soil under the house. Several days this week were spent wheelbarrowing dirt outside (Betty, Where are you?)

Then yesterday he poured cement pillars to support the joists on the left side of this picture. And he anchored a joist hanger on the right side of the opening

All in all, it feels like progress!

The spectacular Columbia River Gorge

2010-04-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

We had a leisurely drive along the Columbia River on our way to Portland on Friday. Multnomah Falls was a highlight..

We drove up on the overlooks and had some pretty spectacular views of the river....

and the road way

Nice to have top-down driving weather near Portland in April!

The number of wind turbines has greatly increased in two years since we last drove this route.

And some other interesting sights- here the basalt rocks hang over the historic old road.

Here is a pool of water filling up the crotch of a tree

and finally....Forget-me-nots were in bloom along the old highway- so cute!

Dear Al Gore, The REAL reason for global warming.....

2010-04-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

Lisa's final gift to us- a double compost bin

2010-04-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Lisa worked on one last project before heading back to Denver- She built us a compost bin. It has a center divider so the pile can be rolled over into the second side.

She is now very handy with power tools.

My overwintered compost pile actually made some compost- so Lisa sifted it and took two wheelbarrow loads to the garden.

Here is the finished composter

It is already half full! Thanks Lisa!

Roofing ON by 10:30 am

2010-03-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! Thanks again to Lisa and Don for all your help!

For Betty

2010-03-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

See! We aren't working Lisa TOO hard!

The weather cooperates- off comes the old roofing

2010-03-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Yay- the storms of Monday have passed and today was a good day to remove the old green painted metal roofing. Here is Lisa pulling the last nails holding down the metal.

One last look at the old. After the metal was off, Lisa and Don filled in the hole in the eave where the chimney used to be.

Finally on to reconstruction- laying new OSB board over the whole surface.

Lookin' good

The sun is starting to come out and Lisa is all smiles.

Nice view from the roof peak-

Thanks also to Don- who came and helped.

Next comes the black paper moisture barrier. Now it can rain.

Here is how it sits tonight. Tomorrow the new, pretty blue metal roofing goes up!

The floor comes up and the chimney comes down

2010-03-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

Lisa is here with us this week- helping with the next phase of deconstruction. Today she pulled the nails on all the floor boards and removed the wall board in part of the constuction zone.

So now you can see down to the ground under the house.

And the old root cellar is exposed

One more thing- take out the stove pipe from the woodstove (see the round hole in the wall)

On the outside- demolish the cinderblock chimney. Whew- what a lot of work today. (Lisa also removed most of the nails from the metal roofing- in hopes that the weather will dry out soon so they can replace the roof!)

Today the new beam goes in!

2010-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

(Start at the bottom of today's post to see the progression......)
10:40 am THE BEAM IS IN and supporting the roof!

and Kurt is a happy boy!

It's level! and one post is in...

Next step RAISE THE BEAM

Next step- prepare the beam

and roll it into the house

Here is the starting point- the hole in the exterior wall where the beam will slide through...

Here is the place on the interior wall where the end of the beam will be inserted

and here is the beam awaiting it's destiny

Slow-Food, Matter Style

2010-03-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

We are cooking on our wood cook stove- now that it is our only source of heat. It is fun and convenient.

Help us decide- fence or no fence

2010-03-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the yard with the fence

Today we took down one section

We think we like it better without. What do you think?

More deconstruction and shoring

2010-03-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Work continues- this week posts were put up to support each of the rafters.

The crosswise beam is what we are trying to replace. Here it is still in place...

And in this picture it has been removed.

Here is our front yard- full of the last of the torn out wood-- and the new 6"x16"x25 foot beam- that will go into the house some time this coming week....

Tired tines get replaced

2010-03-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Starting to get the rototiller ready for another season- first task- replace the tines. Here are the shiny new ones

Here are the sorry looking 25+ year old tines

DAY 2 of de-constuction

2010-03-12T17:26:00.000-08:00

More wall board, framing and now carpeting came off today. Pulling back the carpet revealed the old root cellar hatch.

Here is the root cellar hatch in the floor- and 5 bottles of home-brew beer found down the steps

let the de-construction begin!

2010-03-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

Kurt has emptied our 'split level' main room and begun tearing out the ceiling. Today he tore down most of the kid's old play loft. All this is in preparation for inserting a beam across the middle of the room- thus eliminating the two posts. And hopefully assuring that the house will remain standing the next time we get 4 feet of snow!

Here is the last of the old bedroom wall paper...it was so cute at the time...

This is where he got to by quitting time...

Kurt tours San Francisco

2010-03-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

Such a deal! Joanie was in San Francisco -working- and Kurt came along for a little vacation. He spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday touring all over the city using a cable car pass.

Here is Lombard Street- the crookedest street -

He went to Fisherman's Wharf every day- had a crab cocktail and said hello to the sea lions....

Alcatraz Island - taken from a park along the shore

And looking the other direction at the park this is what you see- Golden Gate Bridge

Riding the cable car

He walked down Lombard street and took this picture at the bottom.

Our hotel is the building in the middle of this picture. It was very nice- we were on the 27th floor so had amazing views of the city. It was located 1 block from BART, a cable car stop and Union Square.

We did get to do a little socializing in the evening. On Wed night we met up with Calvin and Eunice Jones. Kurt and Calvin were team mates

at the UW.

And finally on Friday my work was done and we got to do a little sightseeing together. We toured China town and ate lunch. Later we went our separate ways for the trip home. Joanie left from SFO and Kurt was flying out of Oakland. We met up in Spokane and arrived home at midnight!

OH Joy! The grandkids are here!

2010-02-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

Busy busy, but so much fun. We have been to the beach, to feed Silver the horse and just hanging out together.

Kurt's first wood working project comes indoors

2010-02-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

Kurt is practicing to build new kitchen cabinets-here is his first practice piece- a stand for the TV. Pretty cool, huh!

Preparations for a grandson visit

2010-02-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

Water anyone?

2010-02-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

What a gorgeous day! Sunshine all day- FINALLY! It has been grey and gloomy for weeks. Started the day with coffee in the hot tub.

In the afternoon we went on a walk and tried our hand at dousing for water. Kurt has a better sense of it than I do. Here he is with the two rods- both parallel- meaning no water here........

A few steps later the rods crossed themselves.....this is an indication of water nearby.

We also stopped by to vist our pet horse, Silver. She knew we would be bringing her a carrot, so she was waiting for us.

A burning weekend

2010-01-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

We burned two big slash piles this weekend. Here are some pictures- the "before" pictures and the "after" pictures. As Kurt says....now we know the real cause of global warming- it is allowing Joanie to have matches!

early morning ferry ride

2010-01-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

Jeff is alive and well!

2010-01-17T16:50:00.001-08:00

Here we are walking on the Dungeness River Dike with Jeff and Su. As you can see, Jeff is alive and well following his heart attack 9 weeks ago

Eagles still amaze me- we walked right under this tree

Not so exciting- but still unusual to run into a herd of donkeys on the dike.

Also a long the dike - a 3-sided cabin that was once a tv pilot scenery

and a couple shots of happy Tucker

A trip to the Washington coast

2010-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Here we are driving to Long Beach WA- in a POURING RAIN STORM on Friday morning.........

Who knew that 24 hours later we could be driving north on Hwy 101 and be in sunshine......

here are the rocks at Ruby Beach

and this was an interesting tree...

A walk in the snow at Sherman Pass

2010-01-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

We took another hike at Sherman Pass (5200' elevation) today. It was beautiful.

Tim and Kathy joined us

Here is Joanie

and here is Kurt

Merry Christmas to All

2009-12-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying 8 wonderful days in Denver visiting Amy and Tim, Lisa and Betty and of course our sweet grands, Mark and Lilly. It is going to be a white Christmas here. We hope it is a joyous day for everyone....
Here are some pictures....
Lilly is quite expressive and she has mastered rolling over since we arrived- she is so fun to watch....

We now have three food traditions to accomplish during Christmas-First is making Great Grandmother Matter's tie-knot cinnamon rolls. Here is Mark gettng to punch down the dough...

and the assembly line......

and the final product

we also made tamales....

and decorated sugar cookies

here are Mark and Lilly in their matching Christmas morning sleepers...

Lisa's present from Betty was a tool box....

On Christmas afternoon Grandma and Tim took Mark sledding. He loved the ride down the hill...

and - he walked back up the hill on his own two feet while holding grandma's hand....

First snow in Kettle Falls

2009-12-23T22:06:00.002-08:00

Longview Visit

2009-12-23T22:06:00.001-08:00

We were in Longview in early December to the induction of Kurt's high school football team into the local sports Hall of Fame. Here are some scenes from our visit.

We always try to visit Kurt's Aunt Dolly when we go to Longview- she will be 90 next year and she is doing great....

Then we made a drive-by of Kurt's childhood home...

At the induction ceremony we met Kurt's junior high basketball coach....

We also visited with several dozen of the team mates- but the only picture taken by us was Kurt and Steve Vogel. These two 6'7"er's made up the two ends of their football team that went undefeated for a season and a half.

Thanksgiving weekend

2009-11-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Started off by this visit from our local turkey flock. Fortunetly for them, they don't taste very good- so they were in no danger of becoming dinner...

We were 7 for thanksgiving dinner- but no pictures were taken. Here is Mary, one of our dinner guests, and Joanie out by our bonfire prior to dinner.

On Friday we continued throwing anything that would burn onto our bonfire. It was a beautiful day to be working outside

On Saturday we drove up to Sherman Pass- elevation 5575'- where we found a foot of snow to test out our new snow shoes. Here is Kurt

and here is Joanie. We loved snowshoeing- it was easy to do, great exercise and great scenery.

Real light fixtures!

2009-11-12T21:10:00.001-08:00

In the entire history of this room- which is 34 years as of this week- the light fixtures have never been more than a porcelan base and a bare light bulb. But now look- Three real light fixtures. Isn't Kurt clever!

And speaking of Kurt, here he is taking a well deserved (and needed) rest infront of the new-for-us satallite tv. Livin' the dream!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2009-10-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

We have been wondering who Lilly looks like. Well, we think she looks like her mom-- look at their sweet cheeks! Here is Lilly

Here are a couple of shots of Amy at 1 week old

And isn't this the cutest thing---Lilly in her cat costume for Halloween

And, here is Amy dressed up as a cat- as a 4 yr old...

Another BIG change!

2009-09-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

Kurt had a surprise for me when I arrived home from Denver. He had removed the ceiling above our kitchen. What a change to have a 12 foot high ceiling instead of the barely 6.5 foot ceiling...
Here is the kitchen with the old ceiling still in place and before our remodeling efforts of this spring....

Here is the kitchen before the new floor but with the new window (on the left) in place.....

Here is the kitchen today.... new floor (which Kurt did in May) and the raised ceiling and new beam overhead.

Taking out the lowered ceiling exposed the original ceiling boards-- and some of the old blue wall paper.

I really like the look of the boards in the ceiling- but there is no insulation above them so they will have to be covered when we put up insulation.

OUR TURN to visit the Grandkids

2009-09-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

It has always been our plan to wait several weeks after Lilly was born to make our first trip to Denver. Then she was born a week earlier than we thought and waiting those 4 weeks to meet her was so hard. But finally our time came....and of course we are ecstatic!
Here is my first look at Lilly.....

Here is Kurt making a big lap for Lilly and Mark.

Later it was my time to share my lap- what a beautiful handful!

A big part of our onsite job is to keep Mark entertained so mom and dad can spend time with Lilly and/or get some rest. Mark and I spent an hour one sunny afternoon burying him in his sandbox. (It was fun for both of us--and not too messy since I was right there to brush him off. I imagine his folks won't be so happy about this game the next time Mark tries to recreate it himself!)

Kurt went hiking with Mark and Tim and they found some great climbing rocks....(also notice Mark and grandpa in their matching "grandpa shirts")

All too soon it was time for Kurt to say goodbye to Lilly as he went back to KF before Joanie. Here he is giving her his last big cuddle. Lilly LOVED sleeping on Grandpa's chest. They both are missing each other already!

firewood cutting

2009-09-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

Today was a first for Joanie- I cut down a tree with a chain saw! Woo-Woo! It was a good day- I only cut what I was supposed to (like wood only- no flesh!) ... and now my wood is in the wood shed-- along side the tree that Kurt cut today.
Here is a picture of our wood shed, my baby chain saw and my little logs......

Garden update

2009-09-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

It is SO much fun having a garden again after 10 years! We are amazed everyday at how well and how MUCH everything has grown from those tiny seeds planted in May and June.
LOOK at this sun flower- it is 10 feet tall!

Here is the middle of the gardern- zucchini in the foreground, flowers in the middle and the pumpkin patch off in the back.

Here is what the tomato patch looked like this morning before I hacked back the growing tips and harvested everything that was red..

These are our pole beans. We put strings up to a wire and the plants have grown up and created a wall of green that is 6 feet high. The beans are just coming on...

This is what remains of our corn patch. We have been cutting down the stalks as we harvest a row. Right now we are in the middle of the patch where all the stalks were knocked down a month ago. This looks pretty bad- but we actually managed to salvage most of the crop and have been eating corn on the cob 3 to 4 nights a week for 3 weeks. Tonight we harvested the bulk of the remaining ears and froze the kernals for winter.

And here is why we can't be too unhappy about the corn-- because the rest of the garden is so beautiful. This is our gate- with morning glory in bloom and climbing across the top of the gate. (Did you know that morning glory only opens its blooms in the morning?)

We have another patch of morning glory on the side of the fence facing the house...

And, of course, the harvest of wonderful vegetables and flowers is the other reason we love having a garden. These were all picked this morning- Cucumbers, tomatoes, a watermelon and a cantalope and several bunches of flowers. (Later in the day I picked a bag of zucchini and dozen peppers of 4 different varieties that went right into salsa. )

Do bears sh-t in the woods?

2009-09-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

This morning when Kurt went outside- he noticed that some time during the night or early morning a bear had done his business-- IN OUR FRONT YARD!

Guess I won't be going outside much after dark!!

We have been canning

2009-09-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Not to be outdone by our Denver daughters :) Here is our recent canning output:

6 jars of dill pickles on the top shelf. 3 pints of tomatillo salsa on the bottom left. 7 qts. of peaches, 2 pints of sweet pickle relish and 6 pints of mandarin sweet and sour sauce on the right. So fun!!
Update 9/4/09- We canned 6 more quarts of Peaches on Wednesday night. Then made 13 pints of Peach Chutney with the left over peaches on Thursday night. Then 7 pts of tomato salsa on Friday afternoon! Hope to do a small batch of spicy green beans this weekend (you know- perfect swizzle sticks for Bloody Marys!)

Reunion, birthday, anniversary Celebration

2009-08-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Much of the Matter Nation gathered on Aug first - a combination reunion and celebration of Maureen's 65th birthday as well as Susan's 50th and Jim and Susans 25th wedding anniversary.
Maureen seemed to be having a good time...

The "entertainment" for the day was watching Anthony, Matthew and Evan cavort around the yard. The wading pool was a great hit.....

As for the adults, we sat around and chatted....Jim, Tim and Bob

Jerry and Molly

Aunt Dolly and Margaret..

Kurt...

Susan, Jim and Grady....

Elizabeth and Kateri spent much time getting ready for the party and helping out....

Garden Tragedy!

2009-08-03T20:46:00.001-07:00

Our garden has been spectacular this year. Everything has been growing like crazy- here is our corn patch in the middle of July- the corn stalks are half way up the water stand pipe- which you can see to the middle left in this picture.

Fast forward to August- We have been eating peas, beans, kale, salad greens, strawberries, raspberries, herbs and we have zucchini coming out our ears!
Here is our garden gate.....

Here is our over zealous squash and pumpkin area...

and here is just one tomatillo plant- it has hundreds of blossoms and stands about 5 feet tall....

Pole beans, calendula, basil and salad greens in this shot....
and here is the corn patch. The late variety of corn reached over 8 feet tall by this weekend- you can just see our white water stand pipe to the middle left in this picture- it is 6 feet tall and the corn towers over it....

here is another more close up of the corn

But this weekend tragedy struck.....half our corn patch was knocked over......

we think the stalks were actually pushed over by our irrigation spigot.... most of the stalks are broken and likely won't set ears. VERY SAD for us as corn is our favorite fresh-out-of-the-garden treat. :(

Parting shots from Chile

2009-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a series of pictures from our travels in Chile.
The Spectacular view from the apartment...

A beautiful tree speciman in a Santiago city park...

A major pedestrian street near the center of Santiago-teeming with humanity it seemed to us...

A quaint side street in an older part of the city

Many buildings have massive wooden doors - this is just one example

We spent a weekend in the Elqui Valley-a prime vegetable and grape growing area about 500 km north of Santiago. We stayed in the town of Pisco Elqui at a hotel on a one lane road. We were amazed to see this truck negotiate the lane outside our hotel....

Leaving the valley we took a 60km dirt road over the Andes-quite a scenic trip...

Some folks live along this desolate road- and use solar energy...

A blooming cactus along the road...

Something you see A LOT of....stray dogs....they are everywhere and will walk along side you for several blocks to see if you have any treats for them....

A shot of the fertile Elqui Valley (it is winter here)

more cactus

A poinsettia tree!!!

The sun setting on the Andes above Elqui Valley