Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Multiple fronts

Future screen porch takes shape.


While Chris tackles the massive bathroom tiling job and the scores of new chores I throw his way, we’ve brought in a couple of local craftsmen to tackle work on the future porch. And my, oh my, it’s looking great.

They installed a corrugated metal roof and underdeck drainage system this summer, and completed this lovely cedar-deck floor a few days before the Alaskan blast from Typhoon Nuri slung us into an early arctic winter.

After four years of tromping through sand, mud and snow to get to our sleeping quarters, this project felt like a huge step toward adulthood and eventual functionality at Loveless.

As our friend Kay said when she saw the new floor: “It’s like you brought the upstairs space downstairs.” Yep, she nailed it. Ah, potential, you pull at my heart and imagination.

Meantime, just to keep things “interesting,” I introduced a shed project into the mix, using the very practical reasoning that it’s high time we stopped tripping over tools and other sundries as we work on drywall in the bedrooms and try to complete the bathroom.

That little pre-fab shed project has turned into a much bigger deal. More on that later. But so far, Chris and I are still on speaking terms.

Way before. Mosh pit in the making.
A reminder of how far we have come.
The underdeck ceiling/gutter project this summer.


Underdeck ceiling complete.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Just dandy on the Gandy


It’s hard not to feel dandy when you’re trotting down a state trail called the Gandy Dancer on a sunny fall morning. The trail runs 98 miles through Minnesota and Wisconsin, and passes just a few miles west of Loveless.

Like so many of the great trails in this part of the country, the Gandy Dancer is built on a former railroad corridor. Its colorful name comes from the crews who laid the railroad tracks using tools made by the Gandy Tool Co., headquartered in Chicago. The term “gandy dancer” is said to be slang for the men who worked the tracks, swinging their tools and moving their feet in harmony, no doubt as a foreman looked on.

If you’re on the Gandy Dancer, it’s an even better bet if you’re in Luck. The town of, that is. A few weeks back, Chris and I partook in the first annual Gandy Dancer Marathon in Luck, Wis., a benefit for the town's fire department and qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

We're no marathoners, mind you, unless you count the metaphorical one we're on as we bring some love 2 Loveless. No, we entered the 5K. I trotted and Chris sprinted, and he came  home with a coffee mug trophy for finishing runner-up in his age group.


He finished No. 2, but he's my No. 1.
Pre-race fuel stop gave Chris the winning edge. Go Gators.

Workmates with a nearby cabin ran the half marathon. Animals