A letter

So we have a few items we considered not quite done with regard to our builder's work. Things just not quite right. A couple months go by with no contact from the builder. Up to that point a couple months ago we made phone calls every couple weeks to keep it moving. The ball sat in their court until we walked over and picked it up.

Well a new year and a new expectation. So we wrote a letter just to get some things documented - dissatisfaction and expectation. Since phone calls can be ignored/denied and in this case apparently required followup, it seemed the prudent thing to do.

Unfortunately, we like our builder. He's a great guy. His wife is nice too. We appreciate their hardwork. Even thought about calling him to let him know the letter was coming and why. Didn't do it tho. Dang it, we weren't satisfied. And it demanded to be said.

We got a reply. Not unexpected. It's an outstanding example of two sides to a story.

Crunch

The accumulation of ice over the weekend had the expected effect. Branches and trees down in every yard and on every street. Our own "wildlife tree" decided to loose a limb. Right into the middle of some lawn chairs.
Tossed a line up into the tree to see what else would shake loose. The cars are be safe now. And the birds and squirrels still have a hang out.

Icey Art II

This dogwood is a bit of conflict between Diane and I. Its beauty saves it yearly. A bit of extreme pruning helps also.

Icey Art

We had some freezing rain Friday night. Chipping the ice encrusted cars Saturday morning, I wondered what works of art were created. There had to be a picture somewhere in the yard.
A couple weekends ago, we went to Lakeview Museum here in Peoria for a perhaps once in a lifetime (convenience-wise) opportunity. Anne Adams loaned 72 photographs of her father's thru March.
What would Ansel do in our yard this morning after an ice storm?
It was midafternoon when I walked around back to dump some water. The pattern of the tree rings, textures of the wood and ice, near natural black & white reminded me of my thoughts that morning. Here's my poor attempt.. Olympus D-520 digital camera. Unaltered.

Gift Wrapped?

I won't say exactly where this is. The top sheet was added this year. The walls we see wrapped every year.
At least they know what a waterproof tarp is.

Holiday Push 2

And here are views of the girls' rooms and a peak into the bathroom. Hard to capture without a wide angle lens.

Holiday Push

Kendall and Sharon visited over New Year's weekend to get the drywall out of the way. We worked hard but made time to visit and play games too. First pics are the hallway with the closets at the end -one of Gary's favorite features. Angles are from both ends of the hall, and the closets viewed from Aspen's dorrway. The left hand closet will have the clothes hamper, with a trap door to the laundry room below. The smaller closet to the right provides access to the mechanicals and will be a place to put the upstairs vacuum and other cleaning stuff.

Flat Michael continued

Over New Year's weekend, we visited Lakeview Museum. But first we stopped at the center of the solar system (or a model of it). The museum had an Ansel Adams exhibit that Uncle Gary wanted to see. And of course, cousins Ember and Aspen showed Flat Michael the discovery center.

Flat Michael stayed up late with us on New Year's Eve. He had a little trouble with our wish balloons.
Happy New Year!

Flat Michael

We have a guest for December and January. Flat Michael is the creation of our nephew Michael. (Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown, is an excellent children's book Michael's school project is based on.) He's been enjoying hanging out with the girls and going on adventures.

In this set of pictures we have Christmas dinner at the girls' Uncle Dale's house with an explosive game of Battleship. Dinner was Nueske's applewood smoked ham, green beans, homemade apple sauce, lefse, cheezy potaotes and a tall glass of cold milk.