Happy Birthday to Fred.

It's Fred's birthday today. He got some solar tiki torches from Sher to round out his total tiki count to 6. He spent most of the day fishing with Bill. They got some nice walleyes down by the VFW.

Sherry ordered some flooring!! Here's the pictures.

Bamboo for where the wood used to be.

Cork in the kitchen.

Congoleum in the back entry, laundry, bathroom area.

They've also talk to an installer, so things are moving along.

In other news, Sher ran over her cell phone with the pick up. I'm not sure how, but it was busted. So we got her a new one, same number and similar to her old one, so she should still be able to answer.

I got a new camera, so was able to take some much better picture. But, I forgot to put the memory card in, so I ran out of store space before I got pictures of the inside of the house. So, while there has been some painting and things done, I mostly have pictures of outside stuff.

Painted bedroom

One of Sher's begonias

Pepper from the garden

Tomato plant

Apples

Slowly but surely

First of all, I'd like to point out our new technological feature. For those of you who use a reader, I've added a Subscribe button on the upper right corner of the page. For those of you who don't know what a 'reader' is, you probably don't have one, so just ignore the new button.

Now, back to the news.

Things are progressing. On Sunday, Fred replace 2 very vital items lost in the flood- the bait fridge and the week wacker. Nevermind that his birthday is this Thursday and someone was thinking of getting him a new bait fridge, but oh well. I'll likely be going with plan b and getting him a nice lawn chair. I know it's safe to post it here because when I said something about the blog he said "the what?". When I tried to explain, he clearly a) didn't care and b) wasn't listening. I'm fairly sure he thinks a 'web site' is a popular spot to find spider dwellings.

In other news, Sher had someone up to measure for flooring. And her college friends, Carol and Alice, came up to help clean up the gardens. I'm not quite sure what the plan for tomorrow is.

And now for the food, chicken and pizza from the Pizza Ranch.

I attempted to take some pictures, but something went horribly wrong and I didn't get any. So instead of flood pictures, I'll just put in some randoms pictures of whatever I can find...

This is Dutch

This is a car I saw in Minneapolis.

This is in Paris

This is in London- it may be my favorite picture from there.

Food and movies

Not much to cover today. Fred continued to patch cracks and Sher did errands and cleaned shelves.

Dinner was fish and salad.

Then I went to the movies, The Dark Knight. I hated it. So did Rob, and he's a comic book nerd.

it's like watching paint dry.

because they are watching paint dry. Sher painted all day, the living room is dry and I think the dining room needs one more coat. She also continued to clean shelving in the basement. Greta (a friend) may be coming over on Saturday to help get those painted.

Fred fixed up the existing vanity in the bathroom. A little piece of drywall and some paint and it will be all fixed up. Then he went fishing.

Stan came up and got the camper today, so the drive way is back to a drive way. It's odd that it looks odd with out the camper when just a few short weeks ago I thought the camper looked odd.

AND NOW FOR THE FOOD. They had round steak with diced tomato and potato.

Heeeeeeeere's Sherry!

Thanks everyone for following our progress through this disaster! You have all been so caring even though you have had to read whatever it is that my daughters have written; very scary. I don't even want to look at the pictures they've taken when we were looking like s---. We are on the mend now as you can see. Yesterday the dry wall and texture was finished and I did some priming today. Bob is already working on cabinets and the final measurements have been taken for a couple new ones. Joni is going to stain and finish new base and door trim so I did some pricing today; I think it will be pine. Fred filled in some cracks in the back of the bookcase and then, wisely, went fishing.

I'm glad to get to write today's progress because usually anyone I talk to already knows what's going on by reading this blog. Sometimes it's on the blog before I know it!

A big thank you to all of you for so much love and support. We are truly blessed!!!!!

And we're back.

I stopped over after work today and fed some ducks.

Fred and Sher were cooking meatloaf from Gram and some potatoes from Billie. It smelled good but I didn't have any.

The mud and tape is done and the walls are textured. Sherry can start painting tomorrow if she wants! They also had a guy come in and give some estimates on laying flooring. The actual floor estimates should be in soon too.

Speaking of floors, has anyone laid those sticky vinyl floor tiles? We're wondering how difficult it is because Sher wants some in the main bathroom.

Speaking of bathrooms, the vanity that we picked up last weekend is not the right configuration, so that will need to be returned. Oh well, it was worth a try.

Speaking of cupboards, here's the wall unit in the main bath.

Fred and Sherry who?

I actually have nothing to post about the flood today because for the first time since the flood I have not talked to Fred or Sher. I will get an update tomorrow and let you all know what went on today. So basically, I will gladly blog on Tuesday regarding whatever happened today.

Zzzzzzz...

There was no post on Sunday because, well, I went to bed instead. But there were some accomplishments! Sara and Slugs took the kitchen cabinets that need to be rebuilt or repaired. Slugs also brought back the bathroom cabinet that he repaired and helped put it back in. Joni arrived a bit later (due to a slight self imposed detour to Butler county) and took some doors to be repaired. She also helped measure for baseboard.

Lunch was from Gracia Harms, a nice lady from town and an excellent cook. We had ham, green beans, carrots, potatoes, tapioca fruit salad, pickles, celery, and apple pie. She even brought all the plates, table wear, and butter. It was tastey.

So today, I'm not sure what the plan is. I think Sher is going to continue to track down floor prices. Fred will probably patch a couple more wall holes, and the mud and tape guys may be back to finish up.

If I remember, I'll add a few pictures later.

range vs cooktop

Sher and I went on another quest for appliances today. The current dilema is whether it's better (cheaper) to get a cooktop and wall oven or a regular range. The trouble is that they need a down draft and most of those are from jenn air. The first jenn air that they had in the eighties was great, but the one they bought just a few years ago was crap. So now they were looking at a cooktop with a separate fan and a wall oven just to avoid to jenn air, but that's pricey and is complicated to place in the kitchen. So the search continues.

We did manage to get a cabinet and some more floor options for the main bath. If she decides she likes the roll of vinyl that we picked up, that could be done some time this week and they'd actually have a room on the main floor that had floor!

Fred went fishing this morning and was going to continue to put the bottoms back in the cabinets but the lumber yards closed before he go there.

On the food front, we had BBQ from Zippy's. It was good.

A SECOND POST FOR EXCITING NEWS!!!!

Well, it's exciting to me because I'm an uber-geek.

I'm not sure why, but for some reason I decided to do a Google search for "Wagner flood" (without the quotes for those of you who are into this sort of thing) and this blog is the first thing that showed up!!!

Here's proof.

Here's a slightly easier to read view.

I think I've just wasted my 15 minutes of fame.

Work, work, work...

Fred did a lot today. He patched holes, put in the last tiny bits of drywall, and started to replace the bits of cabinet that were cut out.

According to Fred, Sher sat around and talked on the phone.

The biggest news is that they have tv now. I hooked their new digital conversion box thingies. Fred pulled an antenna cord up through one of the knots in the subfloor and drug it out the door and across the porch to the tv. They have 16 channels now!

Supper was leftovers. I'm amazed at what Sher can make in a single electric skillet. She's boiled spaghetti and potatoes and fried a variety of things. I'm surprised she's not baking in it.

Here's some pictures.

Fred crawling under the table to change the cords to plug in the tv box.

A mudded and taped wall

One of the spots that Fred patched
A spot where Fred put in bits of drywall

A spot where the bottom of the cupboard need to be put back

Another short one...

(that's what she said.)

We have the first layer of mud and tape! I think they're coming back Monday to finish this and then they'll do the wall texturing. Not exactly sure when they'll be done, but likely early next week.

Sara and Slugs are coming back up this weekend to work on cabinets. I believe there will be some gluing and some hauling.

I think Sunday is a looking for appliances day.

I'm getting a bit lazy on the pictures, but here's a repeat of a classic:

Steaks??

Pam's back with another short post.

I stopped over after work and they were grilling up 2 of the most beautiful t-bone steaks that I've seen in my adult life. I suppose I'll forgive the fact that there weren't 3 since they don't have a kitchen.

A little progress is made each day- today they continued to work on getting the duct work back in the basement and pondered more floors.

Here's some of the current options:

(There's lots more, I'm just too lazy to look for pictures right now. And the last one looks like a gross green on my screen- it's not, it's a nice wood color.)

Of Brakes and Poowater

(Jill Posting here)

So yesterday I take my subaru, her name is Betty (because she's a soccer mom, but kind of fun), into the wheel and tire guys in Pullman, Washington. I like those guys and it gives me a reason to visit friends in Pullman.

The car has been squeaking since I got back from Iowa. Actually, on the trip back from Iowa.
The guy in Iowa did the front bearing and CV joint. Fine. He did not mention bad brakes and he's a nice guy so I think he would have. And he might as well have done it all at once.

It turns out the brakes were RUSTED! The brake guy here asked if the car had been parked, been in salt, or what. I'm thinking perhaps that poowater is a tad corrosive. I've driven the care over 3000 miles in a month. I can see a parked car getting rusty brakes, but not one from a dry climate that has been driven this much.

They were even squeaking when I wasn't using the brakes. It was super annoying. Then when I hit the brakes, the pitch went up. It sounded like the 5th little piggy. The one who went "wee wee wee" all the way home. And sometimes the sound would stop. This made me drive with my head out the window trying to figure out the exact circumstances of the noise.

The real miracle is that I have never had brakes done on that car. And I've driven it 110,000 miles. I think those are some jesus brakes! And I drive like Grampa...coast to a stop, stay off the brakes, downshift down big hills (the car has a special thing for that eventhough it's an automatic). God I'm old.

Anyway, to those living in the flood zone, perhaps you'd like to wash off your cars including the underside a bit more often than usual. I've never washed a car I own, but will stop and do the undercarriage soon because I don't want to buy another new muffler.

Quick update- no pictures.

Not much to say today. I went to work, Fred puttered around, Sherry puttered and made phone calls.
When I stopped over after work, Sher was on the phone with Shelly and Fred was out fishing.

A few more floor samples arrived today, but nothing better than what we had already seen.

I think Sher is working on that and investigating appliances tomorrow.

That's all for today!

OH- food. Lunch- I have no idea. Supper- Fish and salad. So, some things are back to normal.

And on the 7th day...

Well, it's about the 37th day, but you get the idea. Today was a resting day. Fred, Brian, and Carl went fishing. They only caught a few fish, but it was really nice out so no one seemed to mind that they weren't biting very much.

Shelly, Sher, and I hung out at the house and looked at kitchen stuff. We went for a little walk to enjoy the weather a bit.

Rob came over once everyone returned to Fred and Sher's and we had a lovely lunch of sloppy joe's that Rob made.

Billie and Keith came over for a visit after lunch and hung out for a bit.

Now everyone has gone home. This week it will be getting someone it to do the 'mudding and taping' along with picking floors.

Only a couple pictures today:

Dam

Fred and Sher's looking from the former railroad bridge. This is a good shot of the now longer sandbar.

Looking upriver from the same bridge.

Holy Drywall, Batman!

Holy crap! The drywall is up! I'm amazed.

Brian, Carl, Sara, Slugs, & Fred got all the drywall in today. Sher and Shelley scrubbed in the basement. Rob and I mostly roamed around and did the fetch and carry, but not too much really. Sher and Rob got lessons in how to 'mud and tape'. This is apparently the stuff you have to do to patch between the old and new wall bits. I tried a tiny bit and it was fun, but I think that's because I had no intention of doing more than a tiny spot. Sher's going to see how it goes. If she doesn't like it, she's got some names of pros who could come in and do it.

Brian, Carl, and Fred managed to get to the fishing hole by 5 or soon after. Sara and Slugs headed for home around that time too. Tomorrow is going to be fishing in the morning, and then the Ovre's are heading home.

1st and 2nd lunch today was sandwiches, fruit, and desserts from Sara and Shelly. Supper was pizza and chicken from the Pizza Ranch.

Here's some pictures of the last couple days efforts:

I'm pretty sure that this is Carl working on drywall in the living room.

This is the new drywall in the kitchen

New drywall in the guest room.

Sara putting up some sort of thingy that went under the drywall. I think we call them 'scraps'. If I am guessing right, these were necessary in some areas where there were previously 2 layers of wall for some reason.

This was what the Union Boss called "break time"

These are bad pictures of a flooring samples, just to prove that we did look at floors.

And finally, in the most exciting news of the day, my car hit 10,000 miles and I actually noticed!

Floors and More Floors

Jill posting today because Pam spent the day with Sher looking into the floors issue.

They got the sample of rubber flooring that I had sent, and HATED IT.
Fortunately, when they went shopping in person, they found better rubber floors.
They are made of recycled tires and other things. They do not stink as they have fully outgassed (unlike Fred who continues to outgas).
Pam said they found one sample that was a good color and matched everything from the wallpaper to the adjacent floors to the kitchen cabinets. The idea is rubber floor in bathrooms and laundry room and that weird space between the basement door and the door into the garage. These get lots of wear and tear, and lots of wetness. Rubber could be cool. It comes in rolls so shouldn't be hard to put down.

For the kitchen Pam and Sher found a sample of lovely cork in a great color.

For the rest of the downstairs (which Sher and I know now is 1080 square feet) they got a sample of bamboo. Sher thinks it is too light, Fred and Pam think it is the same color as the oak.

I am encouraging them to actually walk on, spill on, rub grit on, and whatever on, the samples. Give them a good test. I also think the rubber and cork will feel excellent to stand on. Pam is threatening to have the kitchen/baths/laundry all in rubber and the rest in cork. could be very nice for walking about.

Sher got the estimate on kitchen cabinets and it's what she expected...ergo HIGH. (let's just say her kitchen cabinets would cost more than my trailer...I don't mean one you pull behind the car, I mean one that I live in). (OK OK, it's a 1974 trailer that someone modified with a chainsaw...so not worth much but I think I've made my point).

In other cabinet news, they found a new pantry rollout shelves arrangement to replace the hand crushing lazy susan of death that used to be in the corner under the counter near the phone. Remember when you would reach in for a can of something and that thing would suddenly roll shut and smash the crap out of your fingers? I hated that.
They also saw some lovely countertops at places like Menards that look pretty much the same as those at expensive cabinet maker places so there are some good options for saving $$ and still getting a groovy kitchen put back in.

In other news...I have no idea what they ate. I had a lovely tub of left over veggies and rice for lunch and some homemade breakfast bars for all the other meals today.

Today's activities were...

insulation and flowers. Fred put in a good portion of the insulation in preparation for the drywall. I unfortunately suck and didn't take a picture of it. It looks like insulation.

Sher's friend Dianne Finley came back down from Elkader and brought a couple friends. (I apologize for not knowing the names. I'll get them in here tomorrow.) They planted flowers!
Here's some pictures since these are more exciting than insulation.

Fred got a couple more tomatoes and peppers from the Brights. These have actual tomatoes and peppers on them! We have a chance of a garden veg during official summer.

Now that I ponder things, this may turn out to be a banner garden year after all. As the plants that people have been bringing are at varying stages of development, Fred may well have the longest producing veggie season in town!

Cabbage

Peppers and 'maters-

Buzzards-

There was a large flock (gaggle? covey? herd?) of turkey vultures (buzzards?) right overhead. Fred counted 16.

Tomorrow it's more insulation for Fred. Sher and I are off to look at floors and appliances.

(And yes, I am trying to set a record for the most instances of the word 'insulation' in a blog post that's not specifically describing the installation or manufacturing of insulation.)