Workshop Re-build Update

First things first.... My friend, Ivan, recently moved into a new house.  Above the stairway to the basement was a little alcove, and I mentioned that it would be a good place for a suit of armor to stand.  Well, a few weeks later, he ran across this unit and purchased it for a song.  Looks good in the alcove.... So I planted a seed, and whadda ya know..! 

 

 

 

So now the quest for the appropriate name.  I have suggested a few, including:

Sir Galahadn't

Sir Lancealittle

Sir Ivan of Naught

We'll see........



My buddy, Swede, came over one day with hid power washer.  We were going to attempt the de-painting of the M-shed doors. 

 

 

 

 Set to go!!

 

 

 

 Here is a good look at the condition of the doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it turned out, the upper doors had patches of stubborn paint on very soft boards, so we got a nice deep textured look.  I spent some time scraping and hit them with a sander to get the sharp edges of paint off.

 

 

Good primer, of course, all brush work.

 

 

 

The upper doors are in the background, with window sash in the front.  Also fixing new glass in the east windows.  Shop is full, I get confused as to what has primer, what has white paint and how many coats are each item..... I should have taken notes!

 

 

 

Then I started on cleaning up the upper door jambs and such.

 

 

 

 

I guess they came out alright.....?

 

 

 

And here is how it looked with the newly painted doors re-installed.

 

 

 

 

Somewhere in all of this was father's day weekend, so I made us a  coconut cream pie!  I finally broke down and got a three quart double boiler, which works great for this size recipe.

 

 

 

 Peggy provided a home-made graham cracker crust.  Of course, the photo of the finished work, complete with toasted coconut on top, was super fuzzy.  So, you'll have to take my word for it that it turned out well.  It didn't last long...........

 

 

Well, that's it for now, have a great weekend!!!

I gotta go, Carlo

 

 

 

 

Historic Point Basse

Last weekend we spent a couple of days camped at Historic Point Basse, near Nekoosa, Wisconsin. The site of the earliest settlements in central Wisconsin.  They have a ton of things to see and hear about, with period appropriate campers and demonstrators showing how life was lived in the 1840's. You can read and see all about it HERE .  We stayed in canvas tents, cooked on open fires, swatted mosquitos and enjoyed temps in the upper 80's with lots of humidity.  We've had better camping experiences, weather-wise! Although I got zero photos from this event, here are a couple from this site in past years......

 

 

 

Peg and I were camped below the bluff, right on the Wisconsin River.  We were portraying voyageurs, some of which were still around as late as the 1840's.

 

 

 

 

We were in charge of the canoe rides, most of which I did in this dug out canoe.  It was crafted by some local history buffs from a white pine log.  It looks big and clunky, but once it was in the water it paddled just fine. 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a little awning shelter used by one of the Point Basse volunteers. He helped out with the visitors to the site.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our wedge tent next door.  We were camped about 15 feet from the river bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the 1990's, Peg and I were both involved with a French Marine group, portraying the French & Indian war era. That would be mid 1700's, quite a bit earlier and cruder than the Point Basse era. The following photos are from an event we did just east of Ashland, Wisconsin.  We had a nice little cannon!

 

 

 

 

 

There was a replica of a fort that stood on some high ground overlooking the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior.   Daughter Rosie is on the left, and I'm next to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two tipis were set up outside the fort, with the bay as a backdrop.......

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have daughter Bryn on the right at an event in Wausau, Wisconsin. We were camped on Fern Island in the Wisconsin river. 

 

Peggy continues to do the re-enactments, me not so much.... Some day I will post a bunch of photos from an event at Fort  Ticonderoga. Peggy went to that and it was a very large event. She is heading to Old Fort Erie in a couple of weeks.  Right across the river from  Buffalo, NY.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's all for now..... See you soon!

Moving on.......

First, a little follow-up on the previous post.  I was able to get primer and one coat of paint on the new fascia boards on the M-shed.  Sneaking it in between rains.... we got 3 inches again on Sunday afternoon & evening....

 

Now to get the final coat of paint on there and the scaffold out of the way! Then I can attack those doors.  Still painting to do on the North end, and all the rafter tails will need a coat or two.

 

 

 

This pic is kinda fuzzy, but here is the start of refurbishing the giant M that was on the sliding doors.  Now have one coat of black paint on these items, should look good on the new red painted doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some other local news.... a local landmark, John's Auto Care, has been destroyed by fire.  This shop was started way back by Dave Mattson.  We'll have to find a new fixit guy for our cars.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next exciting adventure!! South lower garage roof re-do....

 

 

 

Another session of tearing off three layers of rolled roofing, and the accompanying thousands of nail... not my favorite task.

 

 

 

Put down some 15# felt when enough stuff was off to accommodate a row of OSB.

 

 

 

2/3's done with tear-off!

 

 

 

All the siding had to come off the wall above the roof so I could get flashing installed.

 

 

 

 

Hey, thanks for the help, brother Tim!!!

 

 

 

 

Closing in on it....

 

 

 

Power nailers, yes!!

 

 

 

 

Forming flashing to match the wall/roof angle.

 

 

 

 

Clean-up.  Always a formidable task.

 

 

 

 

Project complete.  I'm guessing you noticed the condition of the door and window in the lower wall? Yes, just another opportunity.....     Next on the list.

 

 

 

 

Well, that's all from Ottertail Country!!  See you next time......