No Blizzard!

The blizzard didn't happen - what a miss by the weather people! We got about 1" of snow overnight and today is still "wet".

The guys showed up to work at 7:45 and have gotten all of the closets done. (see last pic) The egress windows in the basement look really good with the trim all done.






This is the glass block window in Bill's room in the basement. He thinks a stuffed pheasant might look good sitting on the window ledge.






This is most of the master closet. There is a small space for long hanging clothes on the left side that you can't see. A shoe rack is there on the right side. We put an outlet in the closet on that side and will have a sm. white shelf so Bill can plug in his fire pager, cell phone, etc. there every night instead of on his night stand.

Bill tells me they have done some exciting things in the kitchen so I'm going over to look!

Handrails & Window Trim

Greg, Bill F. and Ben were here all day working on finishing things up in the basement. They trimmed around the egress windows and put up the handrails on the stairway and other trim. Everything needs to be dusted but won't do any good until they're done sawing! They cleaned up the basement and moved their equip. upstairs.

Will post pics of the window trim tomorrow - looks nice!


We've had wind all day but the snow has just started. We're still in a Blizzard Warning with a prediction of 6-8" of snow as of the news just now. Greg & Bill were planning to work tomorrow but may not be able to get here. They were hoping to get finished this weekend. They have more kitchen cabinet work to do and rods & shelves to put in the closets.

Nice Day Before the Storm

Today was the grocery Open House which went well. I helped with that on the first shift. We were giving out salsa (new kind in the produce section) and pizza pocket samples.

Bill had the planter's Smart Boxes calibrated by a guy from Amvac. The guy came at noon.

Our Mayor, who I baked the pie a month for a year for, came by with my pie pans - filled with a cherry pie (Bill is happy!) for an early housewarming gift. She's in the P.E.O. group I recently joined. Showed her the house.

Tonight we went to the fish fry at West Bend done by the Knights of Columbus. This was their 3rd one this Spring. They fed 1000 both nights at the first two but less tonight. Saw several people we knew there including several that are or have worked on our house. Bill F. and Don, the guy that dug our basement and septic system, were in the kitchen working.

No workers on the house again today. One guy delivered the shelving for closets. I went out and thanked him for coming since no one else has for 3 days!

Check back to see how we come out with the predicted snow storm. Weather.com says blizzard watch for this weekend. Surely not.

Grocery Open House

Today was just a normal day of laundry and a hair appointment with Diane. Bill and Tim were moving equipment around. The farmers around here are getting their toys out and a few have been seen in the fields. No workers on the house again.

Tomorrow is the Open House at our grocery from 1:00-7:00. We'll be serving grilled hot dogs, chips, bars & a drink, giving out some samples and hoping to get some new shareholders, donations and most of all, entice some new shoppers into the store!

Our Occasions mini catalog can be ordered from as of yesterday. Lots of great new things in it with my favorite being the Scallop Oval Punch and coordinating stamp set called Oval All (pg. 16)! Also a new Matchbox Bigz XL Die to be used with the Big Shot. Check it out by clicking on the Occasions Mini picture on the right. You can order 24 hours a day by going to my web site (top right), click Shop Now and then set up your account.

I'm watching the news/weather - we're going to be in a Winter Storm Watch with significant SNOW this weekend! This channel is saying that some are saying maybe 12"??????? I'll have to dig out the boots & gloves??? We don't have a lot of propane left in the tank for heating this old house and hoped to get by.

Misc. House

Greg & Bill got all of the knobs on the cabinets last night. They look real good. They still have to adjust the doors.









I'm not sure what was done today since I went to Ft. Dodge. Did find that the storm room door is up.

I now have a comfy chair in the storm room. Since Bill is a fireman, he's always out IN the storm so that's why only one chair. This beats sitting on a toilet like I've been doing in this old house - with water on the floor that leaks in through the walls (in the basement bathroom where we think is safest)!

Checking the spacing of the roll out trays. This one looks good for Bill's cereal!

Looks like my big ceramic serving leaf will be safe on the bottom along with some other pieces like that. Now that the knobs are on, we can start cleaning the sawdust out of all of the cabinets.

More Countertops

Kris Hunt from Moehl Millwork in Ankeny who we talked with when ordering our cabinets was up in our area today and stopped by to see our house. She's been really nice to work with.

The countertops for the craft room and laundry room came today. This room is coming together! I'll probably work mostly at the desk height area in front of the window, and the left side is counter height and will be better on the back for all of the paper cutting I do.

This is a close up of the craft room countertop. It's called Fallen Leaves. I like Fall - and leaves!

Greg & Bill will be here tonight to put the pewter knobs on all the cabinets. He tells us that the heating guy and plumbers will be here the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed for us on that!