Ramblings

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, ate lots and was able to be with loved ones. I ate way too much bird and goodies, but then I always do. I can remember as a kid going to my Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. There was always enough food for an army. Plenty of salads, deserts, and always at least two meats. But then any Sunday dinner at Grandma Hazel's was like that.

We had an enjoyable time this year. One Grandson will be leaving for the Air Force next summer, so he may not be around for next year. They are growing up too fast.

We have been working on the house every day that we can. No heat in the house yet, so we have to work around that. Talked to the propane man the other day, andd he said he would be delivering on that route during the early part of December. Then we can start the stove.

Carol has been priming on the days that are warm enough. We removed a window on the north side of the kitchen. From the outside there was a full window, but on the inside, half of the window had been covered with paneling! We just decided to remove it all together. We had to replace some of the siding anyway. We will put in a window on the west side. We have most of the floor joists put in the kitchen floor, so we are gaining on that.

The dogs are enjoying the trips to Traer. Dinka likes collecting treasures, like branches, sticks,etc. Annie just runs and hunts constantly.

Hope everyone has a good holiday season, and please keep Christ in Christmas. This is a time to be thankful for what we have. Don't be down and discouraged because of how tough times are. Giving doesn't necessarily mean gifts. Sometimes a handshake or a hug are as good as any gift you could buy.---johnnyb

House update

We have dove a little deeper in our remodeling effort. Last weekend we decided to work on the roof above the kitchen area. Our plans were to just re-nail the tin roof down where it was loose and leaking into the kitchen. Figured it would be a good idea to fix the leak before starting on the new floor. When I got up on the roof, I discovered maybe it was more than just loose tin. By Sunday evening we had a complete new roof on that part of the house. Hasn't leaked yet, but then it hasn't rained yet either.

We got the ceiling repaired in the bedroom and the old carpet up. There was some loose plaster in the ceiling. Hopefully I have prevented anymore from falling. I don't know if I wrote this earlier,but there is a suspended ceiling throughout the house. Carol is in the process of papering, painting and staining them to look like old tin ceiling. They are looking real good.

Today I tore into the bathroom. Left the tub, and that was about all. Carol has got part of the north side and part of the front scraped and primed. Looks real nice.

Am including more pics. Also am adding some of the original ones that I deleted because of their size. Every day we get a little farther down the road.

Now I need to blow off a little steam about the events that occurred at Fort Hood last week. In my opinion if you are not for America, then you must be against it. We are American first and foremost. WE are not African-Americans, Swedish Americans, Mexican Americans, Polish Americans, Russian Americans, Irish Americans, Scottish Americans, or whatever Americans!

We are, by damned, AMERICANS !!!!!! I am not saying this to be racist. I am saying this because I am so tired of the politically correct B.S. If you are not proud enough to call yourself an American, then this is not the place for you! As far as I am concerned anybody that can call themselves a soldier of Allah and kills innocent people is a terrorist, regardless of what is politically correct.

It is what it is and that's that!--johnnyb

Pictures of our progress on our place

Just a few pics to update any progress we are making on our recent acquisition. We have a long way to go, but it will all be worth it. Carol got started scraping and putting a prime coat on the house. I have been doing a little bit of everything. The floor in the kitchen is not good. Too many water leaks in the past that were not taken care of. The addition that the kitchen is in has a tin roof. Some of the tin was loose, so I tried to nail it down today only to find that the roof is also rotten under the tin so that will have to be replaced. The floor will have to wait until the roof is fixed or it will be to no avail.

We have gotten most of the weeds taken care of. We have a very large burn pile at the back of the property. Carol saw a couple of rats today. Not surprising with the weeds and trash that were on the property. Eventually those will be taken care of. There are a few holes in the foundation that will have to be plugged to help keep the varmit population away.

Will post more pics as time goes.

As Percy Bysshe Shelley said (and I have no idea who he is) "There is no real wealth but the labor of Man."--johnnyb