Tuesday already?!

Dean is currently on the phone with our friend Roger (in Vancouver), coordinating our trips to Columbia, SC in October. Roger is going there to take measurements on some antique telescopes, we're meeting him there so we can visit with our mother-in-law Betty and enjoy the South Carolina Fall colors.

Dean was just telling Roger that "we don't have any plans this weekend" - but I have assured him that "we do". There are projects on the house that are screaming to be done. I'm hoping we can get into some of those projects on the weekend and maybe make a little dent in them. One of our little projects will be changing the mortise lock on the kitchen door. When we were in Clinton, IA this past weekend we stopped by an old fashioned "general store" that is still in business in the heart of downtown Clinton. We've gone past it several times, and each time I've said, "I want to go in there sometime!" We stopped in on Saturday, meeting the proprietor - Steve. Steve has bits of this and that, old and new, antique and utilitarian. Some things are priced at "antique store prices", but other things are very reasonably priced. When I was searching for a new mortise lock for the sun room door (this past Spring) I was unsuccessful in finding something "new" and had to have one built out of parts from several non-working ones. Steve, however, had several mortise locks with skeleton keys "new in the package"! Granted, no one has used locks like these on their homes in 50 years or so - but when you are wanting to replace one it's nice to find some place that carries them still. Needless to say, I bought one for the kitchen door - and hopefully we'll get that installed this coming weekend. Steve's store is also the place to go when looking for any poster of The Three Stooges, Elvis, or The Beatles - as well as oil lamp parts, aluminum screen tacks, cast iron pots and pans, and marbles. He has a bit of everything, and will keep you up to date on the latest baseball score while you browse! I also have my eye on an old pedestal sink there, but haven't measured the space in our bathroom to see if it will actually fit. That's for another trip to Clinton!

Another activity we're talking about for this weekend is a trip to watch the Kane County Cougars (the local baseball farm team for the Oakland A's). Dean has never been to a Cougar game. They're great fun, and very family oriented. One of my favorite Cougars games memories was witnessing one of our doctors catching a "bean ball" on a Saturday night, several years ago. Ouch! Saturday will feature the game, sky divers, and fireworks after the game (win or lose)! Summertime is baseball time, and what better way to spend a hot August night than cheering on the local farm team!