Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday; July 11, 2010: Jim, myself and Janet traveled to Bloomington to visit with Jim and Janet's daughter, Anne. She and 30 or so others had just ridden their bikes into town the night before from Boston on their way to Santa Barbara. And today was one of their days off. Charles and Tessa caught up with us and met us at Farm for brunch and got caught up on all of Anne's adventures so far. She has 1124 miles under her belt and approximately 2,700 miles to go. Amazing!
For more information, check out Bike and Build's web page at: bikeandbuild.org/cms/
Posted @ 01:44 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Saturday, June 19, 2010
June 19th, 2010; Saturday: It was another hot June day, but at least the rain came early in the morning and was gone by time for the Reunion. We hosted the Brandt-Rosenstiel Family and, I think everyone enjoyed seeing each other. We missed the last of the elder (2nd generation) members, Charlie (Chuck) and Mariamelia (Meady); but got to welcome Evelyn Grace (5/5/10) and Fisher (5/14/10), the newest 5th generation members. Now, it's the 3rd generation that are becoming the old guard...oops, that includes me. Jan and her crew came down from the Chicago area and Hillary came with Dimitri (Dimo) from Washington, D.C.
Posted @ 07:30 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday; June 13th, 2010: A.A.C. celebrated his 63rd birthday today and he still hasn't been back to a National Park to try out his new lifetime pass. But at least he can still recognize three babes when he sees them. We met at Zuppa's for a wonderful brunch and then on to check out the new digs on North Central.
Posted @ 01:13 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
SUNDAY: June 6, 2010: Tessa; her Mother, Pat: and her Grandfather Bob came for a quick visit before heading back home. Of course Charles was here, too. Bob had missed the wedding so it was nice that he at least got to experience a little bit of where it was held. It was great to meet him and we enjoyed his company a lot. We had just (and I really mean just) finished our house addition, so it was extra special to have family come for a visit and see the results. Patricia got to sleep in Janet's new cupboard bed in her studio which she said she enjoyed very much.
SATURDAY: May 29, 2010: We celebrated Charles' birthday a day late, but it was worth it. Charles choose the Kopper Kettle for dinner. Jane cracked up over the card she got Charles. Let's just say that Jane has a strange sense of humor.
SUNDAY: May 23rd, 2010: Betsy brought over the Charm Club quilts so I could photograph them for possible publication. Here are the unedited photos of some beautiful quilts.
Posted @ 12:32 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday; May 22, 2010: Gramma Sharon and Gramma Artur hosted Collin's 1st Birthday Party. A good time was had by one and all. Green was definitely the color of the day.
Posted @ 04:38 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
SUNDAY; May 9th, 2010: We went to Bloomington to celebrate Mother's Day. Tessa and Charles prepared a scrumptious picnic, that we took to campus. Things are definitely quieting down as the students have mostly left for summer break. Then we found a few geocaches just for fun.
Posted @ 04:01 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
May 2, 2010: A black cat showed up on our doorstep and decided to stay for a couple of weeks until we could find it a permanent home. I dubbed her "Coal" for obvious reason, and even though I'm allergic to cats, I did enjoy her company. For a cat, she had a great personality. We finally let her come inside the house, where she made herself right at home. Jane's friend, Joshua, said he'd like to have her, so she has now moved on to Franklin, where, I'm sure, the both of them are very happy.
Posted @ 03:53 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sunday, April 4th, 2010: We gathered in Bloomington on a beautiful Spring day for a superb Easter brunch. Then we went hunting for Easter eggs in Bryan park. Found three out of four which was pretty good.
Posted @ 06:03 AM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Sharon in itchin' to move and she thinks she has found her "Dream" house. It's an 1896 run down Victorian in the Near Northside downtown area. It does have quite the curb appeal with a columned front porch, 12' ceilings on the ground floor and 10' ceilings on the second and has a quasi-finished third floor. But therein lies the rub. It looks like the previous owner may have removed a few very important interior bearing walls to open up the space, because the roof structure is definitely sagging with some of the dormers listing inward. A structural engineer should be consulted. It looks like they got way in over their heads. It's a true handyman's special on a grand scale, but with enough money invested, it could be quite stunning. We'll see what develops.
Sharon's "Dream" house #2 is a stunner. Recently remodeled, this house is ready to move in with many amenities. I believe this one is a done deal.
Posted @ 04:09 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Summer/Fall 2009: One summer weekend, I was sitting on our back concrete patio area, enjoying the afternoon. Janet walked up a handed me some papers and said, "I've been thinking." Now, you must understand that I have learned to dread these words especially when she initiates a conversation in that manner. Then she just walked away. The papers were of a few sketches over photos she had made of the back of our house (admittedly not the most attractive side of our residence). It was really a mostly windowless high elevation of vinyl siding. It took me a few weeks time to think about those sketches and talk to her about what she wanted. Of course I knew that much time, effort and money on my part would be needed. But the bottom line was -- she had a good idea. I drew up the plans and was able to secure a building permit in late September. The initial pricing was not favorable and Winter was approching, so I decided to wait till Spring of the following year to try and get the project started.
March 27, 2010 -- After a long cold winter, we finally got to break ground on our new house addition. It consists of adding a 130 square feet screened in porch off the dining room and a 130 square feet bedroom/Janet's new studio addition on the second floor. Then there will also be a new second floor deck addition. As they say, March went out like a lamb and the first couple of days of April were very nice, too. Excavation was finished in a couple of days. And the city inspected the trench and form work on Tuesday afternoon. Concrete footings were poured at noon on Wednesday. Thursday, block and brick were delivered and it took most of day to muscle all of that to the back yard. On Friday, three masons and two helpers laid the concrete block. Brick was scheduled to start on Saturday, but the rain in morning forced the crew to cancel until better weather.
Rain delayed the brick installation until Tuesday 4/6.
The porch and second floor framing takes shape.
Second floor walls go up.
Roof framing started at 4 p.m. on Monday and after a few false starts they were able to get half of it framed by 8:30 p.m. when it was just too dark to keep going. Tuesday, work progressed smoother and they were able to get the deck sheathing on and new valleys flashed.
A little less than 4 weeks into our project and we have reached a milestone. The shingle roof got installed so any rain we get from now on should not really slow up the progress. I have a lot more respect for roofers after seeing them in action. It's back breaking and dangerous work. We've been very fortunate that the last time it rained was April 11th. And to go 10 days in Indianapolis without rain, let alone being in April, is pretty remarkable.
We're at the end of April and you can start to see how this thing is really going to look. Wall sheathing and house wrap were installed as well as the upstairs windows. Now if only the doors would get here.
The porch has gotten screened in and the upstairs doors got installed on Tuesday, May 11. Also, the old windows inside were removed, which really opened up the space.
Doors and siding. May has been a very rainy and hot month so far.
It's the first week of June and we are finally finished!
Janet is moving into her new second floor studio space. Today, June 11th, we painted the inside of the addition. Here are just a few more pics taken from the north field.
It's the day before our extended family reunion, so I guess I would say we are finished.
This is, by far, the best week of weather we've had since April. So I took a few more pictures of the project. Now, if only I could get some grass to grow....
Posted @ 03:47 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, February 11, 2010
February 7th - 11th, 2010 We had an extended BNO in Florida this year. Thanks to Jim renting a condo for a month, we took advantage of his hospitality for a few days in what would otherwise be a very wintry cold February. Thank you, Jim!!! His condo is on Key Biscayne in southeast Miami. It just happened that we flew down on Superbowl Sunday, so we first got to see the Colts go down in flames to the Saints. On Monday, we went to Biscayne National Park, but got there too late to catch one of the boat rides. The highlight of the day had to be our dinner at El Carajo. This is a five star restaurant tucked in the back end of a gas station in south Miami. It was fantastic! On Tuesday we went to Haulover Beach and South Beach and had dinner at Versailles, which was a great Cuban restaurant. Wednesday, we finally got that boat ride in Biscayne National Park, which was a lot of fun. We ended up going back to El Carajo for a final special dinner and a final piece of Mango Cheese Cake, before heading back to the frozen North.
Great trip . . . . I didn't want to leave.
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Photos 4Posted @ 04:40 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Sunday, January 3, 2010
January 2, 2010: Sharon and Arthur no sooner got back from Chile than they hosted a CNO dinner to ring in the New Year and celebrate a birthday for Janet H.
Virginia sent her Christmas pictures to Janet, so I've put them here for sharing and safe keeping. I think it's time for Ivan to check out Hollywood.
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Photos 5December 24th & 25th, 2009: We had my family over a Christmas Eve celebration. Everyone brought more appetizers and desserts than we could possibly eat. We put together gift boxes for our soldiers stationed overseas in Iraq.
We had a wonderful Christmas day. Patricia and Tessa made a truly wonderful Christmas dinner. I cannot even begin to describe how good it really was. Thank you so much.
December 6th, 2009: We hosted a Christmas CNO. Always a good time.
Posted @ 09:36 AM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, November 26, 2009
November 26, 2009: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! This year, Joyce hosted the big dinner. As usual, way too much food, but it was all delicious. We got to see Steven's video of his Golf Digest "Ambush" this past summer. Very cool. The article about the event is in the November issue.
Posted @ 04:36 PM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Monday, November 23, 2009
November 21st and 22nd - CHICAGO: We drove to Chicago to meet Arthur, Sharon, Bill and Marcia. Since this was Bill and Marcia's first visit to Chicago we got to show them around the city. The weather was unbelievably pleasant for the middle of November. We lucked into seeing and riding on the Santa Express Subway on the Red Line. On Sunday, we took the Architectural boat tour and then ate at the Billy Goat, a Chicago landmark.
Here are the pictures and movies that Arthur took. His movie of the Santa Express subway is not to be missed. The movies of our Architectural tour on the Chicago River are terrific, too.
Movie Clips:
* From the Top of the Sears (Willis) Tower - 1* 16,717KB
* From the Top of the Sears (Willis) Tower - 2* 27,735KB
* From the Top of the Sears (Willis) Tower - 3* 23,384KB
* From the Top of the Sears (Willis) Tower - 4* 13,290KB
* Santa Express subway* 66,946KB
* Architectural Tour via the Chicago River - 1* 43,124KB
* Architectural Tour via the Chicago River - 2* 219,235KB
* Architectural Tour via the Chicago River - 3* 54,285KB
* Architectural Tour via the Chicago River - 4* 147,644KB
* Architectural Tour via the Chicago River - 5* 58,096KB
November 24th: Everyone came over to our house for a light dinner of Creole soup and Amish cake. Entertainment included the latest BNO show and a visit to the Red House. Jane's Sophie was a big hit as usual. And Charles and Tessa made a quick stop, before catching a flight to Delaware to celebrate Thanksgiving with her Mom.NOVEMBER 28, 2009: Arthur and Sharon invited us to join their family at the Kopper Kettle Restaurant in Morristown as kind of a farewell celebration for all their guests. Hard to imagine we could all eat so much, so soon after Thanksgiving ... but we managed.
Posted @ 05:09 AM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
October 15th to 19th, NEW YORK CITY: Janet and I flew to New York to visit with family and catch up on the city sites and happenings. Claudia put us up or should I say put up with us, which was really great. She has such a nice place. We got to meet her boyfriend, Scott, and had a very special lunch at the River Cafe which he manages. What a special place! It's right at the base of the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge. On Saturday, we visited Suzy and Milton for dinner. Sorry, that Milton is continuing to struggle with severe health issues. On Sunday we got to see my relation, Jane, at the MOMA Bar Room and later we visited with George and met a friend of his, Denny, who was also visiting New York. Make sure you check out George's new cell phone -- a real eye catcher. We, then, made a stop at St. John the Divine and happened upon an magnificent organ recital, which was .... well, divine.
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* Claudia on guitar* 14,965KB
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* Claudia and Scott guitar duet 1* 5,349KB
* Claudia and Scott guitar duet 2* 18,6679KB
* Claudia and Scott guitar duet 3* 31,722KB
* Claudia and Scott guitar duet 4* 19,439KB
* Claudia and Scott guitar duet 5* 18,416KB
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* Organ Recital at St. John 1* 10,966KB
* Organ Recital at St. John 2* 11,094KB
* Organ Recital at St. John 3* 20,468KB
Photos 11Posted @ 11:01 AM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
Monday, September 28, 2009
SUNDAY; September 27, 2009: We traveled with Arthur and Sharon to the Louisville area to visit Arthur's good friend, Dan.
He also took us to Fox Hollow Farm to see where he used to live and see the stone sculptures he helped erect. Supposedly, these stones are located on one of the vortex lines of the earth; however, I checked out the ones on Google Earth which show these stones over thirty miles away from the closest lines.
Dan is a teacher and artist specializing in automata and quilting using special recycled materials.
Check out his webpage at Barkingdogs Automata I have also posted a few clips of his automata in action.* Automata* 2,906KB
* Automata* 3,929KB
* Automata* 4,215KB
* Automata* 9,455KB
* Automata* 3,828KBThen Arthur took us to see a neat historic residential area in Louisville just south of Central Park -- St. James Court. Very nice.
Posted @ 11:23 AM PDT [Link] [No Comments]
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