Dresser - Fishing - Painting

The dresser is one step closer to a finished product --- I really think it will be "finished" this way for some time and I am OK with that ..... I love it the way it is. ( We hope to put corner posts on it yet.) And now we have a mirror.  Unique is all I can say about it.

The whole thing was made out of "junk" wood....  Anyway it sure wouldn't have made it to any store for selling.  My new jewelry box sits on top - also out of red cedar.   Goodness --- Gary was tickled with his new sawmill --- but I am even more so!!!!

Yesterday, Gary went pike spearing with Deon and Ty.  They came home with a pail full of pike -- all speared.  This one weighed in at 10 lbs.   They were all about the same length but the remaining 5 weighed around 6 lbs. each.  We will be eating good for a while.  We gave half of them to Deon's family.....so they can enjoy some good eating too.  Deon showed Gary how to get all the bones out  :)  :)  so we have nice boneless fillets.

I got my winter project done just in time --- today we are out in just a flannel shirt.  It is beautiful out.  This painting  (paint by number) reminds me of the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.   We have enjoyed that country several times... and they are all good memories. I think this might be my last paint by number for a while.  Gonna try something new......  I am hoping our grandkids think my "paintings" are worth having some day.

Well,  Gary just went out on the deck with a pop -- so I am going to join him.  We have JDC tonight at 6:00.  We have about 9 kids right now.  They were a little restless Sunday evening --- so we might have to sit in a strategic spot tonight.  We will miss Pastor Mark tonight.   He is celebrating his wife's birthday with her --- taking her out to eat.

God Bless!    Gary and Barb

Dresser mostly finished

We have the dresser in our bedroom --- but technically it is NOT finished.  We want to add some cedar posts on the corners.....and the mirror is not even started.   We are still pondering on how to do the mirror.   We  need to cut the posts - and they will come from a live tree --- so the wood will need drying time..... a couple of months.

                                        

Those drawers are so nice!!!  They are much bigger than the ones we had and they have "self closing" drawer guides.   However, they were (and still are) a puzzle and aggravation to Gary.  The bottom drawer would NOT close nice.....I guess you could say it closed in a wobbly fashion....not smooth like it should.   So he put shims here and shims there and then he took the shims out and then he put in thinner shims and on and on it went.   Nothing would make that drawer close nice.  So in his frustration he put the bottom drawer (the one that didn't work right) into the top drawer slot ...... worked nice...... so then he put the top drawer into the bottom slot --- WORKED NICE!!!   What is going on here?!?!?   Still a puzzle -- but everything works fantastic so who cares --- I don't -- he still wonders on it.

He is out in the shop right now making me a new jewelry box....a cedar jewelry box.  Can't have that ugly paper mache covered thing sitting on  top making things look bad.  So I am in a win win situation  :)  :)  :)

Thank you Lord, for the skills you have given Gary!!!
Barb

Honored to witness a wedding......

On Friday, February 5, we were honored to witness the marriage of Don Schelhaas and Jeanie Battershaw in Rapid City.   It was a fun occasion!!!!





It was kept secret from a lot of people --- so there were many surprised people when they returned to Lakeview but everyone was very happy for these two!!  Both have lost their spouse and so the joy we see in them now is so wonderful.  

Blessings on Don and Jeanie!!!
Gary and Barb

Close of a beautiful day....

We will close this day sharing the beauty that we watched this evening as we sat at supper......Well I guess I should start with the beginning of our day........

 and then the ending........

FANTASTIC!!!! Thank you Lord for the awesome beauty that you allow us to enjoy!!!
Good Night!
Gary and Barb

Something for US

Gary had some red cedar boards that were mostly useless.  They were saved just because there was a little something there that he might be able to use.  So a couple of weeks ago we cut those boards into 2 inch wide pieces --  cutting them  as long  as we could that was good wood.  We then glued them together into a 24 x 75 inch piece.

He wasn't real sure just what it would be used for......might be a top for the neighbors who had asked for a cabinet.   But they wanted it in a bathroom ---- and he was a little concerned about humidity and water and all that ---- might not be the best thing to do with this beautiful piece of wood.

Well --- I had been thinking of a bedroom dresser..... and I would mention it every once in  a while --- kind of "hint - hint".   He finally took the bait.....and we are now a good ways into the dresser. We had the side boards put together ---and yesterday we went to work.

 These are the side panels.....

 Here we have the sides with the back and bottom in place......

This is the body without the top and drawers.....below is the same thing but with a finish on it.  Isn't that the most beautiful of woods!!!!   We plan to cut down some cedars or just some branches that will become the legs of this ---- but it has legs for the time being......

We were going to make the drawers today but that might have been put on hold.  Our neighbor has company from Montana who wants to go pheasant hunting...?????? in a foot and a half of snow???!!!!  Oh well....men will do anything for fun!!     ANYWAY.....I am OK with the wait.  Just seeing what I will be getting is grand!!!  The drawer fronts will be cedar pieces and the top will be made out of the wood that you see on the 1st photo.   I have also dropped a hint that what is left over of the top would be nice for a couple of  bed stands.

So now you see what we do in our spare time.  Winter takes its toll on activities.  Release Time was canceled last week......nasty fog kept us home from the Alcohol Recovery Group last week.......we are hoping that this will be a full week.  We have lots of snow and it's nice to be one of those who actually enjoy the winter season.  I really have no complaints about that white stuff.  I AM looking out of my window right now at a pickup that is a little bit stuck....he'll probably get the tractor over here when he's done feeding cattle and pull it out.    Think I will go outside --- it's so sunny and beautiful.....and it looks like no wind......only cold.
God Bless!
Gary and Barb

Winter beauty

I have been having trouble getting pictures on my blog.   I think I finally have something figured out (thanks to my daughter in law, Julie)  ---- so here are some of the beauty of winter.  For several days we had foggy conditions again similar to the ones that made the power lines go down.  This time, however, we were spared the power outages and just got to enjoy the beauty.

And this is a photo of the snowblower we took all the way from Michigan --- finally getting a good workout.  I don't understand all the "technical" talk --- but the snowblower has to have a tractor with the right PTO hook up AND enough horsepower to make things work.  Dwight and Rob just happen to have just the right tractor......so Gary had some fun clearing out our driveway.  He had to back up all the way --- 3 times down the driveway.......got a kink in his neck - so he finally said "enough".

And finally some other winter beauty....sunsets......Oh how I love what God puts in the skies for us to enjoy......almost daily!!!




We had the funeral of a neighbor lady today.  Thelma was - as her husband put it to me - a GREAT gal.  Thelma battled cancer for 6 long years and suffered radiation and chemo.......  She fought quite the battle.  Her funeral was a celebration of her life.  We just want to thank Pastor Mark for such a nice service ---  his first funeral as a new Pastor and he did a wonderful job.

It's snowing and blowing and drifting right now -- and has been for most of the afternoon.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring....probably a plugged driveway!!!!
Gary and Barb

Our Christmas Visitors

We were really excited when Mike called to say they wanted to drive out for Christmas.  It would be a short stay --- but those can be the best of times!!!!   They would arrive on Wednesday evening.  We had JDC but they wouldn't be here until after 8:00 - so no problem.  As we drove in we saw their tail lights.....they had just arrived.

We have quite a bit of room in our trailer but we were a bit short on the beds.  We called Lee and asked if Mike and Julie could come and use "Gpa's" bedroom...."you bet".   So we had Mike and Julie taken care of........  Sidney and Halle would share the full size bed......  Rick, Brennan and Austin on the bunk and twin beds.  That left Trenton and Colton in the living room.   Julie said they were the first ones up in the morning......so Trenton was on the couch and Colton on an air mattress.

Things did get a bit messy  --- boots and more boots.....

.......but spirits were high and we just didn't worry about the small stuff.

Christmas Eve we all went to church for a candle light service at Lakeview CRC.  And then we would share Christmas Dinner with Dwight, Marvanne and Rob and Lee.....and Pastor Mark, Dawn, Michaela and Evan.  The size of our group made us decide to have it at the Community Center.   What a feast we had!!!  Then we got the Aggravation boards out and things got intense.

OH ----- I forgot to mention Diesel ----  a dog that looks like Toby's twin.  He took the ride in stride-----slept the whole way up and back.

They got along just fine --- yes, there was a fair amount of growling at times...... but mostly Toby put up with Diesel.  We have an extra dog run - so that was no problem.

When they weren't outside - hunting - they were in the house doing puzzles (the brain teaser type) or playing Aggravation or Uno.

Rick was very glad that we have wireless --- so he spent a lot of time on his computer......when he wasn't trying to win at Dirty Uno.
Halle's not into hunting yet but she was never bored either.

 When we were in Michigan, Sidney got her cedar box out ---- it was the first one that Grandpa had made --- wow was it ever little.  So Grandpa decided that Sidney needed a new "jewelry box" sized one.  Sidney's birthday is January 11 -- so he got right to work making it.  We let her open her birthday gift early --- so we could see her.......

Love those thank you hugs!!!    

Mike had been watching the weather. The plan was to leave on Sunday but with the snow we received on Christmas Day, Mike wasn't so sure --- he was willing to stay thru Tuesday - but NOT leave early !!!!     Then the weather man started talking about "Goliath"............  They would leave on Sunday!    Gary made sure that they would be able to get out ----- He called Rob and Dan ------ assurance that the driveway would be cleared for them.  Dan came Sunday morning about 8:30 --- he had the road clear all the way to the Lakeview/Crookston road.  THANK YOU DAN!!!   They did get stuck right in our driveway ----- that 15 passenger van does NOT have 4 wheel drive!   But we got them on their way and they had clear travel all the way home. 930 miles!!!!  They arrived at 12:30 (midnight) in tired but good shape.  THANK YOU Lord!!!!   

What a fun time we had ------ all the food making and the mess and the clutter and the noise....... worth every minute.    We sure hope they do it again!!!!

Wishing you and your family the most wonderful New Year!!!!

Gary and Barb