Thursday, December 26, 2013

Snowy, dusty Christmas

The downstairs drywall project is rounding the home stretch, though Chris might insert “never ending” in there somewhere. What a messy, dusty, and seriously unrelenting job.

Chipper and I avoided the dust and camped out upstairs on the new weeHouse sofas on our last visit, which coincided with the two-year anniversary of the landing of the beautiful pre-fab on Dec. 22.

We arrived to at least a foot of fresh snow, which I love, because it’s so easy to see the footprints of all the critters passing through. 

Summers at Loveless are full of energy and color. But I'm finding I relish the stillness of winter -- especially when sipping a cup of coffee inside the toasty weeHouse!







Saturday, December 14, 2013

Numb and number



I lifted that headline from meteorologist Paul Douglas, who says we’re off to the coldest start to December since 1996. And we Minnesotans/Wisconsinites are in a foul mood because of it. This week Mr. Douglas' forecast made references both to “arctic sun” and “Siberian sun.” Perhaps a reminder that even though sunlight is scant as we approach winter Solstice, we should show a little appreciation for the heavenly orb. Sunrise at Loveless today: 7:41 a.m.; sunset: 4:27 p.m.

One of my most clever colleagues wrote on Facebook today: This is my last winter in Minnesota.*

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Ice in!




Even in these northern climes, it’s rare to see a lake that’s ready to skate on without the aid of a Zamboni, water hose or some other form of human intervention. Usually it snows, which wrecks the ice for skating. But we scored one of those precious occurrences at Loveless Lake this year, and Chris and I did not let it go unenjoyed.

After living here nearly 24 years now (how did that happen?), I hope to never lose that thrill of skating on a frozen lake. I’m still an arm-flailing novice, as I seem to manage just a couple of outings each season. But my motto is this: As long as it’s cold, let’s play. And what a great playmate I’ve got with Chris.


Ever the hockey player. (The weeHouse project is straight up.)


Practicing pirouettes.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Lounge time




It’s not quite Better Homes & Gardens, but we’ve now got a couple of sofas to lounge on, thanks to the strong arms of pal Nora and the enthusiasm of her faithful hound, Emma. 

Nora’s what you might call a nesting goddess. She loves this kind of stuff. Rubs her hands together, gets a glint in her eye and starts cooing over all the creative options at hand. That’s good news for me, as I tend to get overwhelmed with all the home décor choices (and price tags), and then fall into a funk because I’m certain I’ve irretrievably screwed things up.

The three of us piled into the truck for a recent Loveless daytrip, assembled the Target BluDots and had a weeHouse picnic before heading into St. Croix Falls to check out an art show. Not bad for a day’s work.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Live for today


Loveless Lake is mourning the death of Lane Burke, who was killed in a car crash on Nov. 8 not far from Loveless. He was the lake's resident historian, clean-water champion, upbeat welcome wagon for newcomers and an all-around mensch. 

At 63, Lane was full of life and plans for the future – a new place in Florida to escape for the winter, twin daughters fresh out of medical school and each planning weddings, and a life ahead with wife, Lisa.

Lane took a keen interest in our little rehab project just up the street from his year-round cabin, and we became fast friends. He discovered the blog by chance and wrote to me that he read the thing from start to finish, and then encouraged me to write a “before-and-after” story for the association newsletter, which he helped publish.

Lane’s genealogical research on lumber baron Joseph Loveless ranks as one of the blog’s most hefty entries.


I selfishly ache that our budding friendship has been yanked from me way too soon. But it’s hard not to look at Lane’s life and see a lesson: The guy lived with gusto from the get-go.

He grew up north of Duluth, in Homecroft, Minn., and took a liking to the north woods as an infant, where his dad toted him around in a special hiking chair. The photos from his memorial service showed a lanky soldier, come-hither sailor, and, later, a doting father and active outdoorsman.

By the time I met him, he had been retired from the St. Paul Companies for about eight years (having taken a buyout when he was 55), and he made good use of his freedom from corporate shackles. He was an accomplished carpenter, handyman and collecter of cool, odd things, all proudly on display at his lake home.

Not long after he and Lisa toured the weeHouse, and hearing our plans to eventually build a stair tower, Lane sent me this drawing he made of our future “weeCastle.”

Not far from our own dreams, Lane. R.I.P.




Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Architect at work





Geoff Warner, the brains behind the world-famous weeHouse brand, put some brawn into our Loveless weeHouse project on a recent fall day, and we are ever grateful to him for it.

He arrived with a tool belt and an array of ideas about how to solve the continuing water problem, much of it the result of our Saturn weeHouse getting a bit banged up in its previous life.

Geoff and Chris spent the day pulling off boards, and re-flashing and caulking around the windows. In the weeks ahead, Chris and I will fine-tune the gutter system and add some corrugated metal and flashing on the sides, with the idea that the existing Hardie boards will act as a rain screen.

Then, we’ll cross our fingers and await the spring snowmelt.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Loveless Rorschach

No Time + No Money = No work at Loveless.

Therefore, no updated photos to show or news to report.

But as I keep this blog mainly for my own amusement (and for historical perspective to calm my moments of sheer terror), I present to you the Loveless Rorschach Test.

What do you see?



 Chris sees a newfangled aluminum beer bottle...


While I’m leaning toward a Northern Pike...

 




 Here's hoping you can come on out real soon, and draw your own conclusions.


Friday, August 16, 2013

You can take the girl out of the city ...



Well, she flinched over Daddy longlegs and got a bit spastic about the Dragonflies, but the girl from Queens grabbed a paddle, put on a life vest and plopped herself down for her first canoe ride in a long time last weekend at Loveless Lake.
About the only thing Ashley didn’t do during our quick overnight was to take a dip in Loveless, whose inconsolable name she could not abide. “It just makes me so sad,” she kept repeating. Even when we explained that the lake was named after a lumber baron. “It just makes me so sad,” she said.

Nonetheless, we built fires, had a couple rounds of s’mores and met a few more neighbors at the second annual Loveless Lake picnic. Ashley quashed her jitters and bravely camped out on the floor of the weeHouse, where the smitten Chipper kept a vigilant watch over his new  friend.
Soon Ashley will be on her way back to graduate school in California, a budding journalist in the making. I assured her that the bravery and curiosity she showed deep in the woods of Wisconsin would serve her well in her chosen profession.


Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Work-play day



Sometimes in life, you just need someone to pull you over the hump. That seems to be the expertise of our friends, Doug and Katie, who have developed a knack for showing up at Loveless at just the right time with their work gloves on.

Both grew up in small Minnesota towns and easily embrace the “barn raising” ethos. In Katie’s family, they schedule Fun Days where the extended clan gathers to do chores around the family farm and then enjoys a great meal en masse.

Last Sunday, Doug helped Chris put the last boards on the front deck, finally moving it out of the 90-percent club. Katie folded herself into the zen of painting, and almost single-handedly got the first coat of paint on one side of the walkout basement. Their small fry, Liv, brought a couple hundred toys and a babysitter to play with when she wasn’t lolling around with Chipper.

Only Doug was brave enough to douse himself in Loveless Lake on this freakishly cold “summer” day, where air temps were in the high-60s. “Refreshing!” he said, with amazing sincerity.

It’s been almost exactly a year since they last made a family trek for a little work and a little play at Loveless. Thanks to their “many hands make light work” spirit, we've made great progress along the way.