SWAG

 I read a lot of blogs that mention swag.  Seems that swag refers to the little goodies a person gets when they go to a gathering that has vendors.  You know stuff like pens, chip clips, that little stuff that has advertising on it.  In other words---free stuff.  Since I got a lot of free stuff in Wisconsin, I came to think of it as swag.

 

See all my free stuff??  The wine table and cutting board were made by my nephew, Lloyd.  The cutting board is so smooth and beautiful, I am reluctant to use it.  It has a stamp on the back stating that the wood came from the Viroqua gym floor.  Pretty cool, huh??  The large bottle of Jack was brought to me from Amy’s husband Daniel.  He is one of the most thoughtful people I know.  Next is two jars of tomato juice and a jar of pepper jelly.  These were made by my nephew, Todd.  He grows about 85 tomato plants and a number of pepper plants and cans them himself.  The plant hanger (looks like a large “J”) was made by my grandson, Greg.  It is made from welded chain.  Then we have limburger cheese, that Rex got from his brother.  That green thing is a cat toy Rex got.  The note cards were made by my 7 year old grandson, Randy.  And finally, two bottles of Wisconsin wine that Rex thought I needed.

 

To show how the wine table works I put a couple wineglasses and a bottle in it.  It has made me the envy of the neighborhood!!

I realize that I have a lot of really creative and talented people that I am related to……and I didn’t get any of those qualities.  What’s up with that?? 

Thank you all for the wonderful gifts, I  cherish them all.

AH, WISCONSIN…..

 AS WE WRAP OUR WISCONSIN TRIP FOR 2015. WE’D LIKE TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE THAT TOOK CARE OF US, AND ENTERTAINED US. WE APOLIGIZE TO THOSE OF YOU THAT WE MISSED SEEING THIS YEAR, AND HOPE TO CATCH YOU NEXT YEAR.

 

 

 

BOULDER LAKE

AT THIS POINT MARY AND I SPLIT UP FOR A GRAND KIDS FIX. MARY HEADED OUT TO LA CROSSE, AND I HEADED TO BOULDER LAKE JUST NORTH OF GREEN BAY, WHERE I MET UP WITH AIM AND THE BOYS.

LAURA AND BARRY HAVE A TRAILER ON BOULDER LAKE AND AMY HAD RENTED THE CABIN NEXT DOOR FOR A FUN FILLED WEEK OF LAKE LIFE. WITH AUNT KATHY HERE, IT REMINDED ME OF THE DAYS OF “CAMP RECHSTEINER”.

AS YOU CAN TELL FROM THE PICTURES THERE WERE A LOT OF ACTIVITIES, AND A LOT OF BOYS!!!

DAIRY DAYS

IF IT’S JUNE IN WISCONSIN, IT MUST BE DAIRY DAYS!!! WE’RE OFF TO THE ANNUAL DAIRY DAYS PANCAKE BREAKFAST AT THE FAIR GROUNDS. THIS IS THE SHORT LINE WHEN WE ARRIVED.

WHEN WE LEFT THERE WAS A LONG LONG LINE. I’D SAY THEY SERVED 2,000 FOR BREAKFAST BETWEEN 6:30 AM AND 11:00 AM. THE LINE WENT RIGHT BY THE GRILLS WHERE YOU PICKED UP PANCAKES, SAUSAGE, ICE CREAM, CHEESE, AND MILK.

OLD TRACTORS, HORSE WAGON RIDES, AND ICE CREAM CONES ROUNDED OUT THE BREAKFAST.

  “NOT SUNNY & NOT 80”

WELCOME TO CABLE LAKE

WELCOME TO SPOONER AND CABLE LAKE.

 

BUT, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO FIRST….

WE WORKED ON THE THE BRUSH AND WOOD PILE A LITTLE NOW AND THEN, BUT NO-RUSH.

BESIDES IT’S SUMMER AND TIME FOR FUN. PONTOON RIDES, SCOOTER RIDES, CONVERTIBLE RIDES, SAND VOLLEYBALL, AND OF COURSE COLD BEERS TO DRINK!

THIS SALOON ACTUALLY OPENS AT 7AM DAILY (AND WE’RE SURE ABOUT THAT).

THIS IS A NEW MURAL PAINTED ON A BUILDING DOWNTOWN. THE PEOPLE ARE ALL PART OF THE HISTORY OF SPOONER.

 

ONE AFTERNOON WE WERE INVITED ON A PONTOON RIDE AROUND SPOONER LAKE. SPOONER LAKE IS THE FIRST LAKE THAT UNCLE HANS LIVED ON. AFTER LUNCH ON STONE LAKE WE ENJOYED OUR RIDE. THIS IS A PICTURE OF AN EAGLE’S NEST, AND IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE ONE OF THE CHICKS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE NEST.

AS THE SUN SETS ON SPOONER LAKE WE CALL IT DAY.

It’s Official!!!

OK, so I decided at the end of March, that I should sign up for Medicare, and so what the hell, I might as well sign up for Social Security too.  And WE ARE OFF!!

I am now 65 years old and eligible for Medicare!!!  Great for me for a couple of reasons:

1..I have had no health insurance since 2000.

2..Now I will not have to put up with the penalties for not participating in Obama’ Health Care whatever.

3.  I am very lucky because I only had one year of Obama Care to worry about before turning 65 and entering the kingdom of “Medicare”.

I had my “Welcome to Medicare” physical on May 20.  I can honestly say that I have not had an appointment with a medical doctor in 15 years except in 2004, when I underwent extensive tests to determine my eligibility as a kidney donor.

I met with the doctor, he looked through the extensive questionnaire ,and ordered the following tests: mammogram, bone density, and colonospky….I can hardly wait!!!

( I know colonospky is misspelled..but spell checker didn’t give me any choices and I am in a house without a dictionary!!)

The real exciting news is that I got my first Social Security check on Wednesday!!!  So I guess it’s official---I am now a Senior Citizen!!

Does this mean that I’m also a “a little old lady”??

WISCONSIN OR BUST

WE’RE ON THE WAY !!!

E.T.A. SPOONER, WISCONSIN AFTER NOON ON WEDNESDAY!!!

JENGA

SUMMER ON "THE MOUNTAIN" MEANS JENGA.

THROW BACK THURSDAY

The "O.D.",  1936,  Age 10


Hans P. Rechsteiner
1926 - 1996

New Stools!!

I was sitting at the table the other day on my stool and it was really wobbling, since we had just tightened the screws the day before, it was clearly  time to start looking for some new stools!  As it happens that afternoon we were at the neighbors playing jenga and I mentioned that I was in the market for some new stools. 

 

Rosemary (whose house we were at) said I have 2 that I have no use for  and you can have them if they will work for you.  WOW am I ever glad I said something!

 

Since the colors did not match my décor, I decided some TLC was needed.  Great!  A project!!  We also had to cut 3.5 inches off the legs because they were too tall for our table.  AND surprisingly  we cut them evenly.  NO WOBBLE!!

 

See this crack in the old stool????  Didn't even notice that when we were tightening the screws! 

 

 

Just about done with the application of KILZ.  You put that on to make sure nothing bleeds through.  

 

 

 Finally got the painting done.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I noticed a white spot I missed.  You'd think that painting black on white you wouldn't miss any spots but that is not the case!

 

The finished product.  This was a win-win all the way around.  The chairs were free and I had a project to work on for a couple of day.  Who could ask for more??