Happy Fathers Day

Mike saved his birthday/fathers day tie to wear for fathers day and proudly announced for anyone that was interested exactly what was on the tie. Lots of people came up to look at it and didn't even have to have it explained before he even tried.

They, of course, all said, "AWWWW....." and commented on how clever it was and how cute the grandkids were. We had to agree even if we were a little biased.

All the little stamps of color are the same photograph of the the four grandkids taken together when the Websters went down to AL to visit with the Smiths. It was the very first time all the cousins had been all together. How precious to memorialize it in a gift that their grandpa can be proud to wear anytime! Great thinking! Two views to see - far away and up close to see how cool the tie really is (and how handsome their grandpa is!). Thanks kids!

New Stove & Kitchen Preparation

It all started with trying to clean the stove.

I should tell you that living in an old farm house can be adventurous. Upon our arrival, I discovered our stove was a cooktop, but the controls for it were on the vent hood and that they were push buttons. More than once I thought I had turned things off only to discover that I had instead turned them onto high (DUH!).

Anyway, I was lifting up my favorite big burner to clean underneath it when I discovered the insulation surrounding the wire from the control to the actual burner had some breaks in it and I was worrried that a breakage in the wire might be next.

We had a housing inspector come out and inspect all the farm houses and the stove got a grade of a "D". When we took the cooktop out of the wall we discovered that the wood around the two big burners had already started to burn under the tile countertop. SO glad we decided to replace the cooktop, eh?

In the meantime, new cooktops are pretty pricey, so we tried a different approach. Since I already HATED the wall oven that I had (it was too small, too high for short little me, and I had burned me several times using it already), how about a getting a regular range and putting my pots and pan cupboard where the old oven slot was. It might be a little more carpenter work, but everything would be updated and be more to my liking.

Well, it almost worked like a charm. As the general contractor said, "This is way remodels always go." I'll show what I mean in the pictures that follow.

This is with everything out.

The large circle is where it vents to the outside from the vent hood. The little circle is where it went through the cabinet to connect to the power source to make the vent hood/cooktop controls work.

The little circles at the bottom are the copper lines that were cut through when the cabinet was cut out. The line was the water line to the ice maker/cold water dispenser for the refrigerator. We miss it already. Hopefully it can get fixed soon.

The big circles at the top are where the burners had started burning through the wood under the tile.

This is the hole where the wall oven was. The contractor was too quick for me and got the cross piece (circled area) in before I was able to take a picture of just the hole.

The entire work area.

This is Eric Storm, the general contrator who did such a great job for us. One of the funny things about these shots is the color of his hair. From cutting the tile, the dust got in his hair and it makes him look like it's almost gray. He's really just a young whipper-snapper though. Even with the dust in his hair, he just kept right on working. Good Man!

And, finally, the pile of stuff that is to be hauled away.

So the next post will be the construction, its accompanying problems and the putting of everything back together. Should be much more exciting, I think.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Yup! This was the year Mike turned the big double nickel - 55!!!

Unfortunately for him, it was pretty much just another day. But I thought I'd take time out to celebrate what a cute little boy he was. He's still the best catch around and I was the lucky one to reel him in. I thank my lucky stars every day that whatever it was that turned his head my way, I hope He never forgets it or I never lose it. Although at this age, we're both getting a little absent minded, if not, broken down bodied. Good thing we've both forgotten what it was we were supposed to be looking for.

Oh , well. I love him just the same.

Isn't he a cute little feller?

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!!

Lake Tahoe!!! - Part 2

So, we got up to the top of the mountain - OR what we thought was the top of the mountain.

Not so! There was more to go! And, lots more fun in store.

Remember the Gondola? Well, we got back on and went further UP the mountain to the where the many, Many, MANY ski trails began. It was Heavenly! No, really. That's what the resort is called HEAVENLY! You ski off one side of the mountain and you're in Nevada and you ski off the other side of the mountain and you're in California. And, although I've never skied before, I got a real feel for it there. Mike was tutoring me through it and showing me what we'd be doing if we were there to ski it. "Fascinating!" As Dr. Spock would say. (For those of you who have done it - why?) Because there still was snow up there and we were unprepared and had to schlog through it in regular clothes (which was difficult enough). Could it be funner with all your gear on? CRAZY!!!

This is a picture of some of the snow-cat trails just off the decking on the lower level. We weren't allowed to play in the snow here, but it sure looked inviting. The snow playing came up on the higher level where it was beginning to melt and one could sink in it up to your knees if you weren't careful.

And, going through the snow turn out to be unavoidable, because..... we wanted to go on the ZIP LINE!!! Can you believe it??? Mike and I got the last couple of seats for the day on the longest zip line in the continental U.S. What a kick!!! We had to ride another lift up to a higher part on the mountain with the wind blowing a chill right through to the bone. (Remember, we hadn't planned to do any of these crazy things and we unprepared for all of this - Oh, well. You only live once!) We got into these seats with our knees against the doors, they strapped us in and then opened the doors. I went faster than Mike and hit the end pretty hard. It was a catapult catching system - pretty cool! These pictures are of the two guys that went just before us. See if you can track their progress. Watch the circles....

Getting loaded into the seats.

Down...

down...

The view from the top deck with the zip line, the snow and beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Here we are, being human projectiles! We were dropped from the altitude of 9,580 feet and got up to speeds of 55 mph! It was pretty fun and something that you probably only would do once. The landing was a pretty hard jolt and sort of hurt my arms. (I should have been holding on like Mike was, but I had to hold onto my purse (see picture). In comparison, the bungee ride at Lagoon was actually more scary than this was. Maybe we've just been riding motorcycles for too long and getting used to thrilling stuff already. I don't know... Still it was a pretty "heavenly" view and "heavenly" little zip run down the side of the mountain.
And, once again the circled picture shows the trailer and a little teeny bit of the back of the bike in the parking garage as we were coming back down the mountain in the gondola getting ready to head back to Chico. What a fun trip! (Especially for a couple of empty-nesters.) Mike said I couldn't say old, because we aren't yet. That is all....