IMFULR

Growing up on a Family Farm...

2011-01-14T13:21:00.001-06:00

Nora recently completed her reflections on growing up on a farm near East Troy, WI. The complete document, including pictures and accounts written by her aunt and uncle about the preceeding era are available by clicking on the link below. It's a large document so may take awhile to download.

Growing up on a Family Farm in the 1940's and 50's: A personal Perspective
By Nora Stute Fuller
Copyright June 2010

Winter Greetings 2010

2011-01-13T13:23:00.001-06:00

For an account of our past year click on the
Winter Greetings 2010

Day One and Day two AM

2010-05-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

We left Eau Claire at 7:30 am. First stop was the Rochester Gold Rush where Nora managed to find a couple of much needed items during her 60 minutes of exploring. Bob found two geocaches. Then we headed to Omaha via I90 to I35. At Hwy 105 Bob got his first of two geocaches in Iowa. The wind picked up and buffeted us all the way to Omaha. We had a very nice visit with Bill and Mary Beth (Bob's cousin). They took us on a driving tour of Omaha. Lots of downtown renewal and a special walking bridge from Omaha across the river to Iowa. We also toured Boy's Town but it got dark and we got lost on all the twisting roads. Bill managed to weave around and finally we ended up on a street he recognized. After breakfast they headed to Lincoln to their grandson's college graduation and we headed west on I80. Bob picked up two quick geocaches at an exit we stopped at to ID the caches along I80 - a lucky stop. While logging on a back road, two park rangers stopped and asked if we needed help. We told them we were geocaching but we couldn't show them the cache. They were curious as it was a dead end road and they don't see many people there, especially with Wisconsin license plates. Five miles down the road we had to stop for Nora to get her day's fix of antiquing and a huge, very nice antique mall. They have free wi-fi, so here I am posting while she checks out. Gotta go it's 10 am and we don't know what's next...

New Adventure Begins

2010-05-06T08:39:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning we'll begin a 3-4 week driving adventure through the southwest and a series of National Parks as we head to San Jose, CA for a May 22 wedding. We hope to post regularly and share some photos of our activities. Our first stop will be Rochester, MN for the Spring Rochester Antique Show. Nora needs a quick fix and Bob will find a couple of geocaches. First stop - Omaha and a visit with a Conlon cousin.

Stay tuned...

Prairie Home Companion

2009-09-28T11:54:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, September 26 Nora and I and our friends Bob & Norma attended the season opening of the Prairie Home Companion at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St Paul. Marc and Amy and her father Tom also attended. This was Garrison Keillor's first show since suffering a mild stroke on Labor Day. He was in rare form with performances that moved quickly and entertained constantly. The theatre was packed by an appreciative crowd. It was fun to see what really happens during the live radio program. We sat in the second balcony nose bleed section. We had greet seats only one row back from the front. Following the show was the annual street dance and meat loaf dinner.

Gate Makers

2009-09-13T20:34:00.007-05:00

Today I returned from a fun and rewarding weekend working with Brian building an Erin designed gate for their fenced yard. ...and Roger came along and joined in the fun as well. Now Willem and the Hayden have a more secure play area.

Brian surveys the project.

Brian and Roger prepare to attach the hinges.

Brian assembles one side of the door "sandwich".

The finished door and fence.

Brian, Erin and Willem check out the finished project from their front sidewalk.

Recent Geocaching

2009-09-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

Geocaching has proven to be a fun experience and I've been doing quite a bit lately. In late August brother Charlie and I were joined by Roger and Bob for an afternoon at Phillips Park outside of Eau Claire. Labor Day weekend Nora was quite patient with me as I cached our way from Eau Claire to Appleton, stopping numerous times to hunt for caches. Then Grace, Charlie, their granddaughters and I cached around Kaukauna. Later, Bob, Charlie and I were joined by Rich for some interesting caches in Door County. Roger and I cached our way to Spring Green and back this past weekend.

Caching at Phillips park near Eau Claire

Cachers in Kaukauna. Charlie and Grace cache under the name IMFULR2 while the three granddaughters are IMFULR3. I'm IMFULR! Coletta had found a geocache in the woods behind her home while attending a workshop this summer. She knew what it was from our June caching session. she left it alone without looking inside. We found it together during our recent session. We're all pretty proud of her for not disturbing it and not telling her friends where it was located.

Caching at the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal.

Roger found a beautiful Army Geocoin that he will move to another location. Seemed appropriate as he found it on 9/11. The cache is called On the Summit and is on Hwy 58 south of Mauston.

These are some iron crosses at a cemetery near Plain, WI. The cache is called WSQ Saint Lukes Iron Crosses.

BeatleFest 2009 - Spring Green

2009-09-08T19:51:00.004-05:00

The fun of our Labor Day weekend in Door County was extended into Monday when we drove to Spring Green for the 1st BeatleFest at the General Store. Daughter-in-law Erin played some challenging Beatle music along with the other three performers in the group called Thieves on Holiday. They played a 45 minute gig that afternoon.

Below: That's Chris on the left, Connie and Erin. The drummer unfortunately can't be seen.

Saturday's Tour Around Lake Pepin

2009-07-19T18:33:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, the Klimpkes and the Fullers headed for Stockholm - Wisconsin for the annual Stockholm Art Fair. We combined that trip with a dozen geocaches beginning in Durand and moving to Nelson, Pepin and in the evening in Alma and Buena Vista Park with a beautiful view of the Mississippi and Lock Dam #4. While geocaching in Pepin we made a chance call to Chris and Larry Haisting to see if they were out sailing on Lake Pepin. They were - in fact, they were very near Stockholm. We made arrangement to meet them in Red Wing for lunch and eventually ended up at Hansen Harbor near Lake City and on their boat for some sailing time. After sailing we drove to Nelson for ice cream and then on to Alma.

A Full (er) Weekend

2009-07-16T12:12:00.010-05:00

Nora not only survived her 45th HS Reunion but also attending the Antiques Roadshow in Madison this past weekend. 22,458 people applied for tickets. We were part of the lucky 5000 to receive tickets. 70 appraisers examined items from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm. While no photography is allowed on the AR set, we did get a couple of pictures on the cell phone prior to entering the appraisal area. Check the Antiques Roadshow web site after July 20 for behine-the scenes pictures of the event. Here's Nora's account of the Roadshow:

On Saturday I arose at 4:45 AM and hit the road by 5:30 AM to head for Knott’s in Cottage Grove, where Bob was staying. The Knott’s, Klimpke’s and Fullers were at the Alliant Center in Madison by 7:30 for the Roadshow…and there were hundreds and hundreds of people ahead of us. However, the lines moved fairly quickly, as all the appraisers were there early, so they started by 7:30 instead of waiting until 8 AM. The host, Mark Wallberg, came along, and when I exclaimed at seeing him, he came right over and gave me a huge hug! It was so neat!

Arrival - note Knott's poles
Relatively empty queWe saw lots of cool stuff while waiting in line, and the Knott’s were filmed and photographed by AR photographers several times in line, as they’d brought some historical Wisconsin Dells Indian totem pole-like wall-boards with lots of Indian masks on them from an old store that was torn down in the Dells 30 years ago. While the website says you can take a collection, the check-in person refused to consider my carefully chosen box of 12 rolling pins as one, so insisted I pick out one material, so I did my glass ones…but Marty cagily got an extra ticket (since she only had I item) so I could try 2 appraisers with different types, and that worked out great. Alas, I discovered at the appraisals that my rare glass ones have fallen in value, due to the miracle of eBay. Since I’d gotten them for great prices on eBay, I couldn’t complain, as I was still making a profit—I just may weed a few more of them out of my collection, though!
(Several years ago, I’d have done a lot better in values.) My boxes were more positive—my $20 estate sale box (which 8 antique dealers walked past before I snatched it up) turned out to be a Persian lap-desk that the appraiser was very enthusiastic about, while my $12 decoupage Chinese box that has really cool Victorian rooms decoupaged on the inside sent the appraiser into ecstasies—he even ran it around and showed it to several people, as he’d never seen anything like it, which really tickled me, as I haven’t either. It didn’t have a huge
monetary value, but it was so fun stumping the appraiser that it was my favorite moment of the day.

A few hundred people ahead of us

A film crew takes our picture in line...

Bob K. took some of our wood toys, so we discovered the dancing figure Bob found in his folk’s basement WAS actually Hitler and my 50 cent walking figure from a church sale was also worth more than I paid. However, my handmade Conestoga wagon pulled by carved wood oxen was worth the few dollars I’d paid for it, so you win some and lose some (I was sure it was a folk art treasure). Another friend took in my box of better (but cheap!) costume jewelry and we discovered I shouldn’t be piling them around my papier-mâché skull at Halloween and knocking out the rhinestones, as most of them are worth about more than I
paid for them. The appraiser gave me all sorts of hot tips on what to look for when buying that stuff, too—mostly I look for a 50 cent or $1 price tag, however. My big find there, though, was my $1.65 pin from St. Vincent DePaul, which turned out to be real gold and quartz and worth $! There ARE bargains out there. Bob took in salesman sample books from the 1800’s that he’d missed last time, but cagily added the book that was our big value at the last show… the appraiser (a different one from last time) just glanced at his really valuable
book and said it was worth significantly less this time! Maybe eBay’s affected the book market, too. We got to see some really fabulous items while we waited in line…and some that we wondered why their owners had bothered bringing them. (They’ll probably end up being on the show, alas!) We stood right by one of the Keno twins as he did an appraisal, plus watched and talked to several appraisers we’d seen on TV, so it was a really nice day. By the time we left, however, the lines were humongous, so we decided our 8 AM time was the ideal one and we’d really lucked out.

Deck Project Progress

2009-07-05T20:43:00.004-05:00

Last September brother Charlie and I removed the upper deck railing and replaced it with a new style. That project continues...

With some assistance from friends Roger and Dick, the lower deck railing has been removed. All spindles from the upper and lower deck have been redesigned, reconditioned and painted, ready for installation. A new set of stairs will be added to the lower deck to reduce the current up and down travel and distance to get from the lower deck to ground level.

The new railing has been painted and the entire deck structure has been pressure wash, sanded and painted awaiting installation of the new railing and steps. Stay tuned...

Confused Robin

2009-06-06T08:25:00.003-05:00

This morning we discovered a robin attempting to fly into our solarium crashing into the sliding glass door. ...not once, but many, many times. I finally got the camera and shot some video. Then I taped some newspaper over the window but he continues trying.

Willem Swings!

2009-06-05T12:03:00.002-05:00

An overnight visit on June 4th provided grandpa and grandma with their Willem-Fix!

BobFest 2009

2009-05-25T18:49:00.017-05:00

Bob Dylan 1963

Wikipedia

On May 24

we attended

BobFest 2009.

This was the

12th Annual

celebration of the

music and talent

of Bob Dylan.

Robert Allen Zimmerman

born on May 24, 1941

It's a family affair where numerous groups perform the music of Bob Dylan from 11 am to 8 pm. It's held each year on the back grounds of the General Store in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The event occurs over the Memorial Day weekend as May 24th is Bob Dylan's Birthday. Bob Dylan will be performing in Milwaukee on July 1, 2009.

The General Store in Spring Green

Check out our pictures below from the event. There are more photos at the General Store site.

Mike performing with Redneck Victim

Our annual favorite - Everybody Must Get Stoned

Entry project Update

2009-05-17T09:37:00.005-05:00

We continue to work on the entry project. Still to happen is a new radiator cover, casing and base molding and new door treatment. Stay tuned. See the before and demolition by clicking here.

Click on photos to make them larger

Committed... Finally!

2009-04-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Part of brother Charlie's visit last week was devoted to getting me started on remodeling our entry to our split level home. This project has been in the cue for many years and now there's no turning back. We completed most of the demolition and did a lot of scheming and planning. The goal is to build the entrance to reflect our hobbies. Nora's collections are showcased on the crown molding shelves built from a variety of woods. The center entry railing that will replace the solid half-wall will be constructed of a variety of woods and include some modest inlay and dimensional attributes. The ceramic tile will also be replaced and the carpet has been removed from the steps allowing us to refinish the oak treads. All the casing and trim will be replaced as well. Stayed tuned!

Benched!

2009-04-16T12:09:00.008-05:00

Jim and Babs Weyenberg

celebrating their

50th Wedding Anniversary

on their new glider.

The week of April 5-10th, brother Charlie came to visit with project in hand. Together we built this sturdy bench with gliders using 6/4 oak. The plans and hardware are from Rockler. It was a great project. Charlie and Grace and 7 other friends presented this to Jim and Babs Weyenberg who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in April. We hope they have as much fun "gliding" and we had building it.

Baby Sitting Chronicles - Update Day 2

2009-04-03T11:51:00.006-05:00

After a nice long night's sleep... It was time to play some more.

Our kitchen helper.

Helping with the laundry.

Who's that guy in the mirror?

He's as cute as me!

I think he's my new friend!!!

Measuring Willem on the same marker that his dad and uncle were recorded.

Everything is just ducky!

Baby Sitting Chronicles - Update 4:59 pm

2009-04-02T16:59:00.007-05:00

After his nap at noon, Willem was ready to go again. He played with grandmas rolling pins, rode the giraffe, generally chased around playing with everything, but especially enjoyed the french door with windows just at the right height for him. He opened (with a bit of help) and closed that door about 10,000 times - and giggled every time. He also went for a couple mile walk with grandpa and rang the cow bell. He also entertained a couple of visitors this afternoon. He is a well adjusted, happy and entertaining little boy. He likes to say hi, shake his head no and squeeze his hands at you to say good bye. He's a real people person and a charmer. Oh, oh - gotta go again!

Baby Sitting Chronicles 9:50am

2009-04-02T09:50:00.006-05:00

Today is a special day for Grandma and Grampa Fuller. They get to baby sit Willem while mom and dad attend a workshop in Red Wing, MN. ...oh oh, gotta go, Willems on the move. More later...

Breakfast

Grandma teaches Willem how to cook chocolate frosting.

But alas --- none for Willem!

Willem helps clean the Cheerios from the kitchen floor.

All dressed for the day.

Willem climbs onto the giraffe that his dad and uncle rode when they were 13 months old.

Willem's First Birthday

2009-03-01T09:54:00.002-06:00

Willem celebrated his first birthday on February 27. Although we weren't able to be there for his celebration we visited 10 days earlier. ...and delivered his rocking horse. When placed on it he immediately slid off the tail. There's plenty of time to learn to ride.

Ride 'em Cowpoke!

2009-02-08T15:30:00.007-06:00

Today, Bob Klimpke and I finished building two matching rocking horses. Bob's will be for his 1 year old granddaughter, Addison, and mine for 1 year old Willem.

Over the last two weeks, I went through the plans and cut out and dry fit the pieces for Willem's horse. Over the weekend Bob K. was able to cut out and assemble Addison's. His son Eric drove down from Richfield with Addison so she participated in the process. We were able to utilize a variety of woods including cherry, maple, birdseye maple, quilted maple, and black walnut. We fabricated all the pieces, including turning the handles on the lathe. Another fun project for a couple of very special little people.

Click on Image to see slide show.

Eric's Bedside Tables

2009-01-26T11:16:00.006-06:00

On January 24 and 25, Eric Klimpke and his dad, Bob, built two alder bedside tables in the workshop. Note the SketchUp illustration and the final table. With a few demonstrations Eric was off and working. Eric now has 16 hours toward his 120 hour Cabinetmaking 101 certification. A special thanks to Eric for use of his new Canon camera...

Christmas 2008

2009-01-20T18:28:00.007-06:00

Marc & Amy, Bob & Nora, Brian, Erin, Willem & Hayden -- 1/18/09

The Fullers celebrated Christmas on January 17, 2009 in Eau Claire. We enjoyed food and fun. Presents were exchanged and we all took turns playing with the new Wii. Saturday afternoon we all prepared for snowshoeing. Unfortunately, the wind chill made it quite cold and several had to abandon the trek. For those who continued, it was an enjoyable first-time experience. We'll have to do some more in warmer weather.

Willem demonstrated that he can now walk, talk and speedily crawl toward anything that catches his eye.

1000 Aces

2009-01-19T19:04:00.006-06:00

Congratulations, Larry!

Today I experienced an unusual card playing hand. Four of us have traditionally played Pinochle on Martin Luther King Day for a number of years. Today, Larry managed to meld a hand with "1000 Aces". That means he has all the aces in the deck. Two of them were passed to him after he took the bid. While I don't know the odds for such a hand, I've never seen one before and I'm sure it'll be a long time before I see one again. If it hadn't been for those 1000 aces, my partner, Jack, and I would have won the day - maybe.

Larry's partner, Edsel, recalled this happening in another game he played...

"A few years ago, one of my partners raised the bid from 24 to 27 indicating that he had 5 or more aces. That bid requires a response if holding one or more aces, so I raised the bid to 29, indicating two aces. Elated (like Larry was), my partner raised the bid to 129 in his exuberance. It turned out that all we had for meld was the 100 aces plus a marriage for 102 meld. Taking all the tricks still left us 2 short in making the bid! What a way to go set, huh?"

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T09:18:00.012-06:00

As has been tradition for about 40 years, we spent New Years with our college friends. Fourteen of us stayed at the Carlson's in Carmel, Indiana for the annual gathering. We always enjoy a project or two and Carlson's provided an unbeatable combination of activities and hospitality. Several of us searched for about a dozen geocaches in the area. One contained a Travel Bug which has been brought back to Wisconsin for placing in a local cache.

They say problems come in threes. It's true. The first one was a leaking water pipe in the ceiling of the family room in the lower level. The second was a leaking water line to the toilet in the master bedroom ...and the third was a visit by a plumber that included a demonstration of how to clear a main sewer line from the street. That didn't work so the 300 pound machine was moved to the basement to achieve success. The guys enjoyed learning and providing unsolicited advice on this - not to be ignored - repair. The women went shopping.

It was New Years morning when one of the group noticed water on the floor in the basement storage room. Upon further inspection, we found water bubbling up from the floor drain. All toilet usage was halted! The room was cleared, the water vacuumed and the sewer clean out prepared for the plumber who arrived about 11:30. The neighbors were very obliging and encouraged us to use their facilities - all 14 of us.

A special thanks to the Carlson's for their great hospitality!

Below is a slide show and movie of our New Years entertainment.

Click here to see a VIDEO documenting our plumbing experience.

WOW - Whatta Rack

2008-12-28T17:11:00.013-06:00

Today I met Bob Decker of Eau Claire. Bob became famous this fall when he shot the celebrated Buffalo County deer - the one that was on Field and Stream video. (See video below) Here's what the Journal/Sentinel had to say. Bob was kind enough to let several of us have our picture taken with this huge rack. He said he was trying to get a candy bar out of his pack when the deer started walking toward him. He knew it was a big one but had no idea it was the celebrated one until a hunting companion pointed it out to him. Not knowing helped to keep him calm for the shot. That's the closest I've ever gotten to a really big one. WOW!

More info
More info 2

The Argyle Experience

2008-12-10T16:32:00.010-06:00

The sale this weekend was interesting and fun. It was my inaugural attempt at a craft sale. My sister-in-law Peg invited me to participate in the 27th annual holiday sale at Argyle High School where they average 600-800 attendees. We went down Friday afternoon so were able to nip over to the Argyle HS to set up at 4 PM. Bob was drafted as main supporter/set-up personnel # 1, so accompanied Peg and me there. All kinds of HS kids were there to help carry, which I thought was wonderful. We immediately discovered we really needed another table, so sent Bob to Dave and Peg's farm (5 miles S/W of Argyle) to get that and my mother’s old wooden clothes drying rack. He’d looked around at other booths and also came back with 2 buckets and a board which we set up as a shelf and covered with a tablecloth on the back table of our “U” to give us a little height. We put all the chenille scarves on the drying rack and it really showcased them nicely. I’d found a wrought iron tree with adjustable flat “branches” at a flea market, so we hung the knitted scarves on that, spread the purses and spoons on one table then filled in every other space with Bob’s trivets and my leaf pictures. Bob had made some great signs so we taped those up and zipped off home to go out for a tasty Friday night fish fry in Woodford, WI.

Click on images to make them larger.

Peg and I didn’t go to the sale until 8:30 the next morning since it didn’t start until 9 AM, but discovered the snow overnight was drifting badly and the roads were pretty slippery--not a good omen--plus the wind chill was horrendous. We’d only been there 5 minutes when 2 of the other exhibitors came over and one bought 4 knitted scarves (cheap pays!) and the other bought 2 purses, so we felt pretty good about our prospects. We waited for the big opening rush. In past years they’ve had people lined up in the parking lot around the end of the school, panting to get in. At 9 AM the doors opened…and 5 people came in! That was the rush. People trickled in all morning, but, unlike past years, the place never filled and there were lots of observers vs. shoppers. (Usually, I guess, it’s hard to make it down the aisles, but people could have bowled down them this year!). I can’t tell you how many compliments we got on the chenille scarves and how clever people thought the beaded-handled spoons were (a couple people suggested they’d be great for folks with a handicap or arthritis, which I thought was a wonderful idea, so mentioned it to several other shoppers) or how many people told me the purses were so beautifully decorated and just great…and then they’d wander away without buying anything! I think the sucky economy zapped us royally, but we did sell several purses, various scarves, a couple spoons and trivets, and a few leaf pictures (one lady bought one, and said to her husband as she left “What a score!”, which at least made me feel good) so had some sales at least. No booth did a booming business, but most people sold something. After we packed up at 3 PM, we returned to the farm for a pleasant evening with Dave and Peg.

Click on image to make it larger.

Willem Climbs the Mountain

2008-11-30T12:56:00.008-06:00

Willem learned he could climb stairs and enjoys doing it. Yet another skill freeing him to roam under the watchful eye of mom and dad. He's also "be-bopping" to music.

Click below to see the climbing movie.

Wollersheim Winery Tour

2008-11-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

While spending the Thanksgiving Holiday at Brian and Erin's they treated us to a tour of the Wollersheim Winery. We were all surprised to learn that the day we were there it was a special tour day and we were able to sample most of their wines and some excellent cheese.

A new hobby - Geocaching!

2008-11-16T16:37:00.010-06:00

I have a new Hobby -- Geocaching.

Here's a YouTube video from Explore the Door. Learn more about Door County and Geocaching in this Geocaching Video

Roger and I did a bit of it today. My new hand-held GPS arrived yesterday so we went to Best Buy for a road trip and located three caches on the way to and back. Before heading out we downloaded the cache locations from http://www.geocaching.com/ to the handheld Garmin. With the unit turned on we left for Best Buy and located the first cache in the park behind the school. (See #1 in first photo whioch is an aerial image of where we live and the surrounding area.) After leaving Best Buy we traveled to the park by the Mall and walked up the hill into the woods to locate the second (#2). The third was near the swimming pool (#3). The GPS "tracked" all of our movements. After getting home I downloaded the "track" to MapSource on my computer. Then I asked MapSource to display the track in Google Earth - and that's where I got the pictures you're seeing below. By zooming in closer and closer we get more and more detail of the track - note the second photo is a close up from the right side of the top image.

Click on images to make them larger.

The map below from geocaching.com shows the caches around Eau Claire. Note the smiley faces as they are now logged on my geocaching account as found.

Mike Moszer's Apprenticeship Begins

2008-11-14T11:09:00.012-06:00

Today, 6' 4" Mike Moszer begain his cabinetmaking apprenticeship in my workshop. He has completed 2 hours of a 120 hour program. Mike now has an introduction to nail guns, the compound miter saw, Kreg pocket hole connections and biscuit joinery. The project was adding 4 inches to the height of Mike and Sandy's new vanity to make it easier for him to reach the sink. A little stain and a few coats of poly and it'll be ready for installation.

ECCC - A Dream Realized

2008-11-07T11:32:00.020-06:00

In January 2008 I was asked by the Eau Claire Curling Club (ECCC) if I'd be interested in building an entertainment center to include a TV, fireplace and display cabinets for the club viewing room. Preliminary drawings utilizing commercial kitchen cabinets had already been completed, but the board was looking for other options. This caused me to recall the six months club members' spent building a significant amount of the current curling facilities during the late summer and fall of 1995. At the time, club members' dreamed of a TV and fireplace along the north wall.

Click on images to make them larger.

During building construction the gas meter was placed just outside that space in anticipation of the dream's reality. In addition, over a number of seasons, Friday night mixed curlers developed a modest fund earmarked for just such a project. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to design and build this cabinetry and be part of fulfilling that 13 year old dream.

My design goals focused on creating a "WOW" experience people would encounter as they entered the viewing room of the club as well as make the piece part of the much needed change in the institutional look of the space. During the next few months, research and quotes were obtained for the gas fireplace and several iterations of the design were prepared in SketchUp - a 3-D modeling software - for review by the Curling Club board and a variety of members.

Gary Kucho, another curler and architect (who usese SketchUp for his work) assisted by preparing a 3-D view of the entire curling club facility. I inserted the proposed cabinets into that drawing and prepared several views for final approval of the ECCC board and the Eau Claire County committee responsible for the County Exposition Center (AKA - Curling Club). With the season ending in March the project was on hold until the 2008-2009 season.

With approvals in hand, including recommendations for additional doors for the TV cabinet and door locks, the 12' x 10' project began during the first week of September. The projected completion date was November 1 - just prior to Open Houses for the new season. During the summer a friend and fellow curler announced he'd like to assist and learn about cabinet building. I couldn't turn down some help, but wasn't sure if our definitions of "help" were the same. Turns out that Ron King's definition far exceeded mine as he was there almost every day during the eight weeks of construction and installation. He was a tremendous help and a blessing in disguise as this project, like so many, took on a life of it's own. A special thanks to Dave Wallace and Roger Kees for their assistance as well. During the off season, one of the fireplace bids became obsolete as the retailer closed. An additional bid was obtained and ultimately became the club's choice. During construction, additional research was done on the latest LCD - TVs and it was decided to move from a 42" to a 46" which required design modifications as space was limited.

The project was installed during the week of November 3rd and was completed in time for the Open House. The fireplace is operational and adds not only ambience, but a significant amout of warmth which will be greatly appreciated when its 20 below zero in January.

This has been a very large project but quite rewarding throughout its various stages.

Click on arrow to view slide show.

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-01T12:46:00.006-05:00

Happy Halloween.

Although Willem couldn't trick or treat at our door, mom and dad had a special picture taken for the occasion. Brian has always loved hot peppers. They grow lots of them in their garden -- and then there's that cute one they call Willem. I think he's thrilled to be all dressed up for a family portrait.

We did have about 50 trick or treat visitors including a few adults without any special costumes. Nora was well prepared with candy and treats and her special pumpkin hat she wore this year. It was a fun evening and the weather was perfect. No snow or rain and no need for jackets to cover those cute costumes.

Sandy (Kees) Moszer stopped by with Toby and Talia. Aren't they cute!

Willem - October 2008

2008-10-22T07:59:00.005-05:00

Grandma and grandpa visited with Brian and Erin and Willem over the weekend of October 17-19. Willem was quite entertaining, as usual. Check out the slide show and the Willem Anthology video below. Click on arrow to start slide show.

Windows Installation

2008-10-13T12:26:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I joined Marc and his father-in-law, Tom Albold, in a project to replace windows in Marc and Amys home. We managed to install 12 windows on Saturday. Tom removed all the originals and interior stops and Marc and I followed behind and installed the replacements. These custom windows all fit perfectly, thanks to Marc's measurement accuracy. A great weekend project with lots of potential for warmth and savings. No more plastic on the windows! ...and a super crew to work with. Who ever said "I don't do windows"?

The Fuller Zoo Visit

2008-10-05T10:39:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, October 4th 2008 the seven Fullers (and three dogs) had a family gathering at Marc and Amy's. Our special outing was to the Minnesota Zoo near Apple Valley, MN. Of course Willem was the star, along with the outstanding zoo and all the animals we got to see up close and personal. A beautiful Fall day with family - It just doesn't get any better.

Click on arrow to start slide show.

The Marriage of Mike and Lori

2008-09-26T14:32:00.010-05:00

Click on images to make them larger.

On Saturday, September 20, 2008, Michael Fuller and Lori Scott tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony followed by an awsome reception. The marriage rite was captured on "film" by expert videographer Marc assisted by Bob. The full-length DVD was released in select cities (Mike & Lori get a copy) on September 26. Previews below are just a brief glimse of this very special time in the life of two terrific people. Call Mike & Lori immediately to make your reservation to view this limited edition video. Time is running out and seats are limited. If you call before midnight tonight they will furnish beer and brats. Operators are standing by...

Brother's Railings

2008-09-07T17:50:00.006-05:00

Brother Charlie was visiting for the weekend while Grace visited with some book club friends at Garmish in northern Wisconsin. As brothers who seem to need a project to keep us out of trouble, we decided to modify our deck and staircase railings and spindles for our upper deck. The project kept us very busy, but we managed to get all the uppers completed. A hugh THANKS to my big brother who I really enjoy working with on projects like this.

The stair railings are still to come...

The lower deck will be completed next Spring with the materials gained from demolition of the upper rails. Then some fresh paint and we'll be ready for our grandson, Willem to crawl all over the deck.

RW Open 2008

2008-09-02T20:42:00.004-05:00

The Golfers
Click on images to make them larger.

The 6th Annual RW Golf outing was held over the Labor day weekend in Door County. Check out the history of the gathering and previous year group photos at the RW web page. This year we had 5 foursomes at the Orchards in Egg Harbor on Sunday followed by a picnic dinner at Pat's home. New traveling trophys were presented to the men's and women's winners as well as the high scorers. Check out the photos (slide show) of the winners and a few others. Saturday at the lake was loads of fun punctuated by an emergency operation on the waverunner to remove a tow rope it swallowed. This was all documented in photos (slide show) also.

A special thanks to Pat for all the work and time that goes into making arrangements and preparing for and serving the Saturday and Sunday evening meals. To Mary and Joel for all their work associated with the RW Golf Outing and to everyone who contributed to an enjoyable time for all -- Thank you!

Below are the RW Golf winner's listings...

The Traveling Trophys

Men's - Rick Fuller 81
Women's - Mary Anthony 92
Men's High - Bob Klimpke
Women's High - Lori Scott

Certificates were awarded to the winners defined below.
The rules indicate that in the event of a tie, anyone who has already won something in any category yields the tie to those who have not.

#2 Closest to the pin in 2 - Louie Roder
#4 Longest drive in fairway: Men - Rick, Women - Betty
#6 Closest to pin in 1 - Mary Anthony
#8 Shortest Drive - John
#9 Longest putt, Women - Pat Fuller
#11 Longest putt, Men - Marc with an incredible 57' 11" (Thanks to Charlie for the new putt measure devices)
#12 Lowest score - Joel Anthony
#14 Most putts - Jeff
#16 Lowest score - 6 way tie - Joe Lucas and Mike Fuller awarded
#18 Highest score - Denny

Click on arrow to start slide show.

Willem Visits Grandma & Grandpa: 8.22-24.08

2008-08-24T17:42:00.009-05:00

Picture of Willem and Grandpa by Brian Fuller

Willem "Mr. Enthusiasm" Fuller spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. Brian, Erin and Hayden came too.

William is a morning person and an enthusiastic talker. See him in action below. See more of Willem at Watch Me Grow.

TV Cabinet Project

2008-08-14T14:17:00.017-05:00

Click on photos to make them larger.

With the recent purchase or our 46” flat panel HDTV came another woodworking project to house this monster. After numerous iterations and drawings we decided that simple was best and cabinets with doors were no longer the project direction. The photos tell the story. All sheetrock was removed from the columns and half wall. The columns were covered with maple with cherry trim. The back wall is cherry.

The cantilevered shelf under the TV is cherry with cherry trim and lacewood accent.

Speakers and cabling are hidden behind a black fabric framework which provides easy access.

The TV is mounted to the half-wall and can be easily repositioned for varying viewing situations. A small area of maple floating floor replaces ceramic tile once needed when our fireplace stove was located there. The bright spot in the ceiling is a light tube that replaced the chimney (that was another project). Cherry is used as trim between the carpet and maple flooring. Rope lights under the upper and lower shelves provide subtle accent to the project. A special thanks to Dick Beckman for all his help and suggestions during this project. ...to Brian and Erin for the lacewood gift for father's day - perfect timing. ...and of course Roger and numerous other friends who reviewed the plans and made suggestions.

Lake Delton - Gone but not forgotten

2008-07-23T10:44:00.003-05:00

On Monday, July 21 we took a slight detour as we returned home from Spring Green. Our friends, Earl and Martha have a cottage on Lake Delton and we decided to check out the lake bed following the draining that occured the morning of June 9, 2008. This YouTube video shows the distructive power of the lake emptying it's more than 600,000,000 gallons into the Wisconsin River.

A JS Online article describes the size and quickness of the failure...

"The breach is mammoth. It's probably 400 feet across. ...Although sandstone - the stone that forms the famed dells of the Wisconsin River - rings most of Lake Delton, it is absent at the spot where the shore gave way, Diehl said. Instead, he said, the soil there is "100% sand" from the lake to the river a couple of hundred yards to the northeast. The heavy rains of the weekend turned the sand into a soggy mass that finally gave way about 10 a.m. Monday.

This graphic shows where the breach occured and the relative size of the lake. Interesting is the fact the lake is a maximum of 16 feet with the average depth being 8 feet. When we visited, the shallowness of the lake surprised us along with the greening of the lake bottom, the river that's still flowing, the stumps that remain from the original creation of the lake and the number of people walking the dry lake bed. Portions of a house can still be seen falling into the area once damming the lake. The famous Tommy Bartlet Water Show is located in the bay at the lower left of the lake diagram. We took some pictures as we walked on water - or at least where it once flowed.

A news report indicates: "The DOT said officials hope to start construction in early September, open County A in December and refill Lake Delton by spring 2009."

Door County - Lake Michigan

2008-07-15T18:23:00.007-05:00

It's mid July and we traveled to Door County for our annual family reunion. We stayed with Charlie and Grace in my Aunt Pat's cottage on Lake Michigan just south of the canal near Sturgeon Bay. An early rising on Sunday provided a beautiful sunrise, while several walks on the beach provided scenery and solitude.

The Garden Stroll

2008-06-29T09:46:00.012-05:00

Nora's Gardens were in prime condition on Saturday, June 28 to help the Chippewa Valley Symphony Garden Stroll to be a rousing success.
Nora' s sisters, Mary and Suzanne, and niece Hannah flew in from the east coast for the weekend. They all were up bright and early Saturday and began "planting" the more then 200 plant labels Nora and friends Marty and Earl helped construct several weeks earlier. Upwards of 400 visitors toured the gardens from 9am to 4pm. Nora's plant sale was quite successful, selling all of the 100 plus cuttings she prepared for the Stroll. The proceeds went 50% to the Symphony and 50% to Brian and Erin's special project, the Spring Green Dog Park. With comfortable weather, it was a delightful day made even more special with the music of a cellist and two flute players from the Chippewa Valley Symphony who serenaded the strollers in the morning and afternoon. ...and now, after gallons of liquid deer and rabbit fence, mole traps and weeding, the gardens have been returned to mother nature and her ways.

Check out the videos and see pictures of the Garden Stroll. Thanks to Hannah for some of the photos.

Two Celebrations

2008-06-21T19:48:00.007-05:00

Rene & Tom Albold and Nora & Bob Fuller

Today we spent time at the Richfield Fuller's visiting with the Albolds and their friends and relatives. Marc and Amy set up many tables in their back yard and a large tent. The garage was set up with food and beverages, all very nicely decorated/coordinated to an Hawaiian theme. There also was an interesting Tiki bar with six different drinks. Everyone was encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts to the gathering. It was Tom and Rene Albold's 40th anniversary and Tom's retirement party. Tom and Rene's entire family was gathered together for the first time since Marc and Amy's wedding. We had a delightful time visiting and some delicious food from Famous Daves. The weather was perfect. ...and today is Nora's birthday as well.

Sailing, Sailing...

2008-06-18T16:45:00.011-05:00

On Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Sailor Bob
joined long-time friend Larry for a day of sailing on Larry's boat. We left Hansen's Harbor about 3 miles north of Lake City, Minnesota at 10:30 AM. As we motored out of the harbor we noticed that the wind was blowing directly down Lake Pepin so our trip to Pepin, Wisconsin would be direct. We arrived about 1 3/4 hours later. The return trip required numerous tacks resulting in a return time of 4:30PM and about a 30 to 35 mile trip. That's the most sailing I've ever done. Beautiful weather and perfect winds made for a delightful day of sailing (click here for photos).

Thanks, Captain Larry!

Adding a blog...

2008-06-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

As we continue to build our web site we'll also post activities on our new IMFULR Blog. Watch for new postings.