#688 Wood Splitting for Relaxation

When Kelly wants to take a day off from home renovation projects, he likes to relax.

A couple of decades ago, Kelly and I were relaxing at the Peterson Lake Cabin in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the country's largest national forest.

And before our relaxing was over, Kelly had filled the wood bin.

Again about a decade ago, Kelly and I were relaxing with friends in a much more comfy cabin at Minnesota's beautiful Ten Mile Lake.

Before our departure, the wood pile was high.   

 Again this weekend, Kelly relaxed with some good wood splitting.  Ahh. 

Yours in watching Kelly relax,
Mary

#687 Tractor Pride

You already know that Kelly is proud of his new (1987) Wheel Horse tractor.

Tractor pride must run in the family, because 3-year-old Sam also loves his tractor.

Yesterday, yet another picture-perfect fall day, Kelly sent Sam running for his tractor when he drove the Wheel Horse out of the garage.

And that's when the tractor competitions begin.

Some of the competitions are head-to-head.

Some are transitory.

 

Some are conversational.

 

It is always important to keep an eye on the other tractor at all times.

As with all happy endings, a compromise is eventually found.

Yours in loving these red tractors and their drivers, big and small,
Mary

#686 Ozarks Bungalow Floor Refinished

We've put a lot of work into our floors. 

And now it's time to hand it off to our friends at Terry Wilson and Sons Flooring for the sanding and refinishing.

Library during: sanded on right.

Library during: sanded on right.

Library after

Parlor during: Kelly enjoys not doing the labor.

Parlor after: Living room is in background.

Parlor after: Bedroom is in background to right of fireplace.

Living room after: Dining room is in foreground.

Even the youngest member of the family approves.

Yours in sliding around in my socks,
Mary

#685 Ozarks Bungalow Flooring

Our floors need a lot of work.

We got to work on it immediately after moving in last year by ripping up the carpets and discovering just how much work there was to be done.  Then in July, Kelly started patching the floors in the parlor, living room, library, and dining room.

BEFORE: A previous patch using pine boards in the dining room corner (then covered with ceramic tile-hence the white mastic) need to be replaced with 1.5"-wide oak boards to match the original flooring.

AFTER: New oak boards are in place in dining room.

BEFORE: The parlor floor (at one time underneath the stairway) needs re-patching to remove those straight joint lines.

AFTER: Kelly re-used old oak flooring to stitch in the parlor patch.

BEFORE:  The living room patch was a long one - about 19 feet. 

AFTER: Living room patched with new oak flooring.  Using boards that are 1.5 inch in width, it takes a while to weave in 19 feet.

BEFORE:  Random damage to be patched. 

AFTER: Random damage patched.

Yours in getting ready for the big finish,
Mary

#684 The Wheel Horse Gets a New Stable

I admit it.  We haven't been mowing our own lawn.

We got out of the habit back in 1999 when we moved into Indy's Lockerbie Square neighborhood.  And since we moved back to Missouri last year, our attentions have been focused on the inside of the house.

That's all about to change because today, we bought a 1987 Wheel Horse 312-8 lawn tractor.  The Horse had one proud owner for its 28-year life and was sold at an estate auction this morning.  (Some proud owners have even been known to join the Wheel Horse Collectors Club and meet in Pennsylvania each June for some Horse trading!)

To break in the Horse, Kelly saddled him up and rode him home through the streets of Aurora. 

Past the Pate Early Childhood Center

Past the beautiful Aurora countryside still proudly wearing his bidder number

Waiting for the traffic to clear on Carnation Drive

Past downtown and our favorite store. (Kelly must have run inside Modern Variety to pick up something.)

And finally arriving at home.

I'd love to get a copy of Straight from the Horse's Mouth: The Wheel Horse Story at a fair price for the new Horse owner in the family.  Please let me know if you find one.

Yours in Horsing around town,
Mary

#683 Construction is in our DNA (part 2)

Construction just may be in Kelly's DNA.

Though Kelly and his father Glenn only got to be together for 19 years, Kelly learned a lot from him. Early on, he learned how to wear overalls and how to pose for an adorably cute photograph.

Glenn and Kelly early in their relationship

Glenn worked as a carpenter on many projects in Kansas City and central Missouri.

1971: Penn Valley Community College across the street from the BMA Tower.

1974:  Glenn, on right, works on Warrensburg bank building.

In addition to his full-time job, Glenn built a house for his family.

1966: Glenn painting the back of the almost-finished house in Warrensburg.

1966: Family house complete

Some carpenter/life wisdom passed down to Kelly:

• Give a tool to someone handle first.
• Return a borrowed tool in better shape than when you borrowed it.
• Blunt the point of the nail to keep the wood from splitting. 
• Work smarter by keeping your tools sharpened.
• Go into construction if you'd like, but consider less dangerous jobs that would make good use of your talents and wouldn't be so hard on your body.

Yours in luckily marrying the son of a carpenter,
Mary

#682 Construction is in our DNA (part 1)

Construction just may be in my DNA. 

My parents married in 1951 and soon bought 10 acres way out in Fairfax, VA - far from their city jobs in Washington, DC - and started construction on their first home.  Dad and Mom were both working full-time jobs.  Yet with the help of their friends, they built 'a little house' just across the road from some woods that would later become George Mason University, founded in 1957.    

My Dad really was a super man.

Dad on top of the 'little house' ceiling joists

Shortly after I joined the family, my mom wrote this in her scrapbook about starting construction of the 'big house':

 "Jim deposited $100 to obtain the house plans of the Barber and Ross 52-foot Sun Valley house on November 22, 1958, so we are now in the building business again."  

The breezeway in the center connects the little house on left with the big house on the right.

We had a large yard in front of our house.  Our garage can be seen at the far left in this 1974 photo.  Then, (l to r) the little house (gray building), the breezeway (behind the car), and the big house. 

My brother and I liked to help out around the house as much as we could. 

Thirteen years and 4 kids later, my parents sold the Fairfax property when the family moved to Missouri.  The little house and the big house were later merged into one house which is still standing today.  Thanks to the generosity of the 2007 owners, I was able to go inside and take a look around my childhood home. 

Fairfax property in 2007

My sister and I take Mom's construction photograph album, i.e. a 1950s blog, to share with the 2007 owners.   

Kelly and I have been involved in some big home renovation projects, but it is still amazing to me that my parents built not one, but three houses in their lives.

Yours in wondering if construction is in my DNA,
Mary