Christmas and the Holidays

Our most resent guests were a military couple taking the opportunity to get away.  He flew for the Air Force and recently was in Russia flying reconnaissance to verify treaty mandates between our two countries.  He has an interesting and important job to say the least.  Anyway, after we got the cleaning and laundry done we broke out the Christmas decorations.   

The Oft-Gordon Home, Bennington, NE.

The weather was beautiful, cool but sunny.  The lights went up easier this year than last.  I added permanent hanging hooks and I simply had to hang the strands as I unwound the lights.  If you look closely, you might see Santa!

Is that Santa peeking out?

     

Woman's Club Festival of Trees

Living in a small town has its attributes.  One, being the fund raising meals served by various organizations.   There are a number in Bennington.  The Lions have a rib feed, the Legion a breakfast, The Bennington Foundation a park barbecue and the Fire and Rescue have a pancake feed.   This year the Woman's Club held a "Festival of Trees" which featured Christmas Trees sponsored by various businesses and organisations; a bake sale, "Grandma's Attic" (crafts and nick-nacks), and food.   Funds from the two day event goes to support the local library. 

This year we partnered on a tree with A/Art Glass which is owned and operated by Linda's brother and sister-in-law.  The Oft's Bed and Breakfast tree was decorated with hand crafted fused glass ornaments made in Jan and Morrie's shop.  The ornaments were really popular!




The Tree Decorators: Jan, Linda, CoeLeta and Maureen

We got second prize in the tree contest and had a lot of fun.

 

A Copper Fire Extinquisher

I found an old copper fire extinguisher while going through the barn one day.  One of those you see in old movies.  It was dirty and had several coats of old paint.  The hose was missing and it hadn't seen the light of day for decades.  They are plated with copper and brass and when polished up really look attractive.   So, I thought I'd give it a try.

The extinguisher was pretty heavy; probably 30 pounds and it was over half full of liquid.  I tipped it a little and this foul looking liquid spilled out the hose attachment so I took it outside and turned it upside down to try to drain it out. What do you know?  After decades it still worked!  It started shooting this foamy, gray fluid about 20 feet.  After about 15 seconds it stopped leaving the tank nearly empty. 



1920's Fire Extinguisher


The top is made out of cast brass and is threaded.  A little fluid remained in the tank and I didn't want anyone playing with it and creating a mess.  So I got a crow bar and heavy hammer and tried braking the top loose.  It wouldn't budge and I even brake the handle on the hammer (it was about as old as the extinguisher) so I sprayed it with WD-40 and let it set for a couple of days.   I tried again and finally, it broke loose and I got the top off. 

What I found was a glass acid bottle, heavy glass stopper that was held in a brass frame near the top of the extinguisher.  When it was turned upside down, the stopper dropped out allowing the acid to mix with the soda solution causing the rapid expansion of gas that "Wha-La" forced the fluid out of the hose.  It actually worked after decades!

The brass face plate says it's reusable, but I think I'll stay with our new extinguishers.  The old style was simple yet effective; a concept that is fairly rare today.   It's doubtful this could be sold today because of the use of sulfuric acid.  

To recharge the extinguisher, you added 1.5 pounds of baking soda and about 3 gals of water.  You then fill the glass, acid bottle half full of sulfuric acid and replace the stopper.  The bottle and its holder slides down the throat of the extinguisher and lugs hold it from falling in.  You simply have to screw the top on securely and remember not to tip it over until you need it.   

Anyway, I stripped the canister with paint remover and then used brass polish and 0000 steel wool to remove the tarnish.  It took two bottles of brass polish and a LOT of scrubbing.  I discovered that copper tarnishes VERY easily so when I got it shined up, I sprayed it with clear lacquer to prevent it from tarnishing again.  

These extinguishers originally had a red rubber hole and a small brass nozzle.  I'm still looking for those, until then the black hose will have to do.  I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Between frying eggs and washing sheets.

Business is dropping off which gives us a break to travel ourselves and to spend some times on our hobbies.  I love to bow hunt.  It gives me an opportunity and the time to reassess my life and relationships.  Sitting on a board in a tree for hours is probably not every one's cup of tea but I find it calms my sole and mind.   Beautiful sunrises and sunsets simply can not be described nor do photographs do them justice. I believe some of them gives us a glimpse of the 'gold' waiting in heaven.
   

The calming effect of the sun's warm rays and just being able to have quite time to think and reflect. Watching the birds feed in the trees......the sound of dry leaves rustling that draw my attention to squirrels chasing each other on the ground...the call of flocks of geese and sand hill cranes as they travel south and the sudtle movement in the brush that might be a deer.  

Early morning frosts blanket the ground and as the sun warms things (including me) I start noticing little changes like reflections of moisture off the vegetation and maybe even off a spider web on the branch next to me.

I become mesmerized by the calm and beauty around me and then I hear an unusual sound...possibly an antler being scraped on a sapling....or a simply the unexplained presence of another.   I slowing move my head and look..... there staring at me.....those black eyes have me nailed!!

This type of hunting is humbling because you have to get so close to the wildlife your pursuing.  It make it easier for the animal to see you move, to hear your heart beat, and to smell you.  It's a type of hunting that filled with adrenalin rushes and 'buck fever' boardered by periods of quite time.   But the satisfaction of placing my arrow in the right place for a quick, effective kill is worth makes the experience unreal.   It might even be worth a self portrait to prove to myself I was actually there and it wasn't a dream.

 

B & B's and Fire Codes

A lot of people have asked us why we only have two bedrooms available for guests when we actually have 4 bedrooms upstairs?  Well, the answer is money and the architectual integrity of this house. 

Nebraska has a fire code exception for Bed and Breakfasts having two bedrooms or less; they fall under the residential fire code requirements.  Those having more than 2 rooms are required to take additional safety steps which can include: the installation of a fire sprinkler system, automatic shutting fire doors, and exterior doors and stair cases leading out of each room. 

Those steps would not only have disfigured our home, they could have cost us $75,000 to $100,000 to install.  That was something we simply couldn't afford nor did we want to alter the appearance of our historic home.  That is why we only offer two bedrooms.

Parlor Stove Dilemma??

A few weeks ago I reported that I had been in the market for an old wood stove and I found it.  I met Fred at a storage facility and bought his grandfather's potbellied stove.  I was looking for a more ornate parlor stove, but it was a nice solid antique stove.  I set it up in the basement awaiting its 'make over' during bad weather this winter.  A winter 'project'.



Fred's Grandfather's Potbellied Stove

About two weeks later while waiting for guests to arrive I was scanning Craig's list.  Wouldn't you know it, I ran across a parlor stove.  Normally these disappear if pretty fast when they are reasonably priced.   I've often called only to find them aready sold.  Actually, the seller was located in Iowa, almost directly across the river; however, because of the summer flooding and associated road damage, 680 east was still closed making the 20 trip more like 80 miles.   I took a chance and called.   The guy was surprised because he had just listed it a few minutes earlier.  He answered a few of my questions and I told him I was on my way.  

Linda, took care of the guests.  I arrived before dark and there it sat in his front yard.  A Wisdom Oak Parlor Stove, No. 15.  A classic cylinder parlor stove that had seen some hard use.  We talked about it, I paid the man what he asked and loaded it up.   I got home and Linda wasn't that impressed, it was in half a dozen pieces. 

Fred's Grandpa's and the Iowa parlor
stove sitting in our basement

We had an early snow storm and I found my way to the basement and got to work.  I had a good steel wheel brush and started cleaning the stove.  The leg bolts were all loose and the base plate where the bolt holes were was a little bent so I pounded them out.  I had some rod iron black spray paint and gave it a couple of coats. 

The metal trim had been chromed at one time and it was badly rusted and corroded.  I believe ornamental trim for these stoves was normally nickel plated which makes me think this might have been an early restoration project by someone else.  This might have been some else's 'project'; now its mine.   Linda suggested we add some stove pipe.  What do you think?