The Ueckert Project

Polar Bear Plunge 2010, Milwaukee

2010-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

AIR: 18ºF (wind chill 6ºF) / WATER: 34.7º
January 1, 2010, NOON

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Our first game at Lambeau

2009-12-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

Where else does anyone in their right mind leave their house with the car loaded at 7am, open the tailgate in a frozen parking lot at 10am to drink beer and eat chili and sausage, dress in layers and strategically placed hot packs to sit for several hours on metal bleachers in 20º weather?

Our first game at Lambeau was awesome.
Packers 48, Seahawks 10

New Artificial Tree

2009-12-11T17:11:00.001-08:00

With limited storage space and the wish to simplify holiday decorating,

we decided to create a flat artificial tree.
2 yards of tan cotton,
1 yard of green fleece,
two 36" dowels
and about 100 green buttons later...

Per tradition, the 'ugly ball' was of course the first to go on the tree

Artificial trees just aren't the same without that fresh pine scent,
so I crocheted an ornament holder for a 'Scentportable' refill from Bath & Body Works. The how-to is on hdwu's blog.

Christmas is almost here!

2009-12-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

Paint is (almost) done!

2009-09-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

We still need to paint the house number on the front
and choose an interesting color for the front door.
But the painting is mostly done:

Red House, Wrong Trim

2009-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

The house is red!
Unfortunately they used the wrong paint for the trim,
which makes the house feel really dark and depressing.
The painters will be back today to fix it...

Primed!

2009-09-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Forecast for the next few days is 'partly cloudy',

with 60% showers on Saturday.
Hopefully the rain can hold out for just a few more days...

Paint colors:

(brown for fascia, red for most of house, gray for trim)

BEFORE New Paint

2009-09-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

After 5 years of waiting,
the house will soon no longer be dirty pink & cream!

BEFORE:

142 Miles

2009-09-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Heather participated in the Bike MS ride this weekend- an organized bike ride benefitting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 74 miles (~3,500 feet total climb) on the first day, 68 miles (~2,300 feet total climb) on the second day, camping at the fairgrounds in the evenings.

Update-8/17

2009-08-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

After a month of heat, lots of watering and lots of pruning back the crazy tomato plants:

Finally- a few are turning red

The new monkey sculpture has found a home

Fred installed the new lights on the front of the house

Garden-7/13

2009-07-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

WHOA! Watering + sun + 'suckering'= huge tomato plants.
Just as we knew we would, we planted way too much.
It seemed like so much space when it was just dirt and tiny little seeds...

Fred's little cucumbers finally getting bigger...

Garden-7/6

2009-07-13T20:54:00.001-07:00

Progress! Tomatoes staked and growing, and all the seeds have sprouted.
Heather's zucchini sprouts are growing WAY faster than
Fred's cucumber sprouts.

Herbs all seem pretty happy- the cilantro and dill took off.

Fred's cute little baby cucumbers.

Garden-6/21

2009-07-13T20:47:00.001-07:00

Garden planted 6/20

2 lettuce + 8 tomato plants started by Uncle Butch, 2 eggplant plants, 2 sugar snap pea plants, 3 peppers (in the smaller pot at the back) and lots of seeds: cucumbers, lettuce, marigolds, carrots, beets and zucchini

Herbs planted: basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, thyme,
parsley, stevia, mint and rosemary

Sunscreen for the Upper Deck

2009-07-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

We've been eating dinner a lot on the upper deck.

Too bad the sun at dinnertime shines directly into Fred's face.

Terrace Almost Complete

2009-06-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

We have plenty of landscaping yet to finish, but the terrace itself is mostly done.

Trying out the potential house color on the shed first

The garden

2009-06-15T18:08:00.001-07:00

Drilling drainage holes in the new 8' x 3' x 2' galvanized trough which will be our garden.

Filling it with a ton of dirt (literally), one 2-cubic-ft bag at a time...

Installing the decking

2009-05-21T17:07:00.001-07:00

(From the upper deck)

Progress on the Boardwalks

2009-05-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

creating the frame for the second boardwalk, under the upper deck

Cutting decking (composite material)

Installing decking. Using the drywall T-square as a spacer.

Boardwalk to the shed (almost) completed!

Terrace Frames

2009-05-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Posts set in concrete, support beams attached

Outer frames constructed

Landscape fabric and cardboard laid down,
some of the lava rock spread out. Joists added.

Removing previous step surface from shed
(to be replaced with decking to match everything else)

Boardwalk to shed built

View from the shed

30 cubic yards of gravel

2009-04-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had 30 cubic yards of gravel delivered last Saturday morning:

10 yards of lava rock, for the back yard around the terrace

20 yards of '1-1/4 minus' for the driveway (it came in 2 separate truckloads)

The piles, with the beginning of landscape fabric and cardboard laid down to (try to) prevent weeds from poking through

After the first spreading- Fred moved it around in piles with the Dingo, and Heather roughly spread it out with a rake. Still pretty lumpy.

After a few more hours of spreading with the rake,
it's smoother but still smooshy.

Terrace Site Preparation

2009-04-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

We rented a 'Dingo' to make the digging and gravel-moving easier.
Lots of dirt and weeds and debris to move around.

View from the upper deck after Day 1

Drilling with the Dingo

Placing the concrete forms in the holes

View from the shed, after Day 2
(those piles are of lava rock, which will be spread out later)

View from the upper deck

The Terrace - BEFORE

2009-04-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Our first project this season- creating a Terrace in the backyard.
Here's the mess we're starting with:

View from under the upper deck

View from the shed

View from the berm

The layout plan

Finally! Flowers blooming

2009-04-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Flowers finally blooming on the berm in the backyard

Happy New Year from the Polar Bears!

2009-01-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Snow!

Busy making lots of holiday goodies

Fred dominated at his company's holiday bowling tournament-

highest score in game 1 (194) and highest all-around score.

paper snowflakes on the window overlooking the backyard