David and Susi’s Blog

Time is flying …… and summer (or what should be summer) is almost over again. We didn’t post anything within the last two months since we used every single minute to be outside as long as the weather was decent. This was not a usual summer with hot temperatures, lots of sweat, pool fun and what ever you can think of that makes a summer a summer. We only had a few really hot days, the rest was kind of odd. No extreme heat, no tornado warnings, no strong storms,…… However, although the pool fun was limited we spent quite a bit outside this year and we are not looking forward to winter. Not sure how this will work out this year, the predictions have a wide span – from being extremely cold to unusual warm….. I guess we just have to wait and see.

The leaves turn already yellow, the patio is covered with fallen leaves every morning – a sign that fall is moving in. Looks like the swimming season is pretty much over and we are planning of getting the pool ready for winter time. …. which means at least one day of hard work. Draining water, applying the winter kit into the water, blowing up the pillow, covering the pool with the winter cover (what a pain in the b…..!), disconnecting the filter and the pump and putting it into the shed. I hope our new neighbor and meanwhile good friend Russ will halp us with the cover – it’s for sure easier to do this in a threesome than only David and me.

What else happened since we posted something last time? Well, our living room is getting more and more comfy, we took another trip to IKEA in Chicago to pick up a few pieces of furniture, lights, two rugs, a new desk & chair for David and several other small things . David also bought a big flat screen TV for the living room, now we only need the sectional sofa, a coffee table, the panel curtains and a wall unit to make the living room complete.

I am pretty busy right now with painting, the third annual Art&Wine Festival at Carlyle Lake is coming up next weekend (September 12th and 13th – www.carlyleartandwine.com) and there is still a lot to do for me. I painted and fired a lot during the last two weeks, but I guess I have most of the stuff ready to go. There are still things to do that will keep me busy for the next days. I just hope that the weather will not turn out as bad as the forecast looks right now. We are supposed to have a rainy weekend and I pray the that meteorologists will be wrong. All I want is that it will stay dry and that the winds will be calm so that my tent won’t blow off. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Mother Nature will have for us for the weekend and take it from there. For all our guests who live in the area and read our blog: please come and visit us at the Art & Wine Festival, there is something for everybody. We will have Dan Belcher again, the world champion in sand sculpturing, who will do one more of his incredible sand sculptures right there while the audience can watch him playing in the sand. The Soulard Blues Band will again be there to entertain with their music and we have of course several local wineries and food vendors to keep bellies and souls satisfied. Please come and enjoy a Festival of Art with local artists showing their works, taste the wine, listen to the music and watch Dan. Fun is guarantied!

See you at Carlyle Lake!

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Snaps,

two days have gone by since we had to make this terrible decision for you – we just didn’t want for you to suffer since you had always been such an active baby. Two days where we cried until our eyes burned, two days where we listened if the noise of your claws on the wood floors would come back, two days where we missed you so terribly in our bed. You always loved to smear your face on my glasses, would walk back and forth to find the right spot right next to or even on me. You loved to jump on my lap when I sat down to read my emails and blocked the view to the screen. I miss that so much! There is no Snapper Kiddy there anymore when we sit down to eat, trying to get something from mommie’s plate – you always had to see what mommy is eating…..

I remember when I first came here, you were the first to warm up to me although Daddy thought you would never get close to a woman again after your bad experiences. But since then you had always been the most jealous little boy when one of our other babies came close to me.

This event came so quickly, so unexpected, we certainly were absolutely not ready to let you go.  You can be sure that you will always have the place in our hearts that you had all the time and that we will never forget you. Be happy now, without pain, maybe even with a tail that’s straightened out again. Play with Moritz and Buttons and have a lot of fun together with them. Don’t forget your mommy and Daddy, they still love you so much!

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A few days ago, we discovered that Snaps (Our Eldest Cat) had signs of advanced kidney failure, and yesterday we had to have him put to sleep.  We didn’t want him to suffer any longer.  He had always been such a strong vibrant and active cat, even as recently as 2 weeks ago, but his kidneys just couldn’t get rid of all of the toxins that his body was producing.  It is always tough to make a decision such as ths, especially when this little guy had been a part of my life for nearly 14 years.  Little buddy, you may be gone in the physical sense, but please know that you are not forgotten.  While my heart is very heavy and it is just about all that I can do right now to choke back the tears as I write this blog, it brings me great joy to know that you are once again united with your elder sister Button’s whom you looked like and had been named after.

We miss you terribly!

David

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Woooooooooooow, what a party!!!!!!

Two days have gone by since we hosted our big party and – oh boy – was that a party! I would also like to cordially thank everybody who took the long ride out into the Praerie and make this party so special. I guess everybody had a good time and after cleaning up the kitchen I guess the culinary part of the party was not bad either since we really didn’t have a lot of left overs. gggggg David’s home brewed beer was a huge success and he was so proud! I can tell first hand how he smiled……. I would also like to thank everybody for the presents and the wine they brought  (Mike, your Salsa was out of this world delicious!!!!) – thanks a lot! You guys are awesome!

Unfortunately due to the huge crowd we had there, we couldn’t spend a lot of time talking to each of you for a long time, I hope you understand. We would also like to tell everybody that our house is pretty much everytime an open house and we certainly are very happy if somebody snows in unexpectedly. Just make sure in advance that we are at home – some time we also have to do some shopping and need to leave the house LooooL So, if we couldn’t spend a lot of time with you talking last Saturday, just come and visit us if you don’t have anything better to do – you are for sure welcome any time (we love surprises and – oh by the way – there is still some home made beer left! hahahaha)

Thanks again, guys, that you joined us, that you liked what we did in our house – you all made this party a huge success!

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We want to thank everyone that braved the cold weather yesterday to come and celebrate the near completion of our 14+ month long renovation project. We really enjoyed seeing everyone, and look forward to doing this again once the weather improves and we have perhaps completed a few more of the remaining items on our never ending to do list.

Thanks again for celebrating our special day with us!

David and Susi

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I know, I know – we had been lazy lately with posting new blogs;  I can’t really tell why, it just happened. Well, since it’s going towards March we are really, really hoping that winter will end soon and spring and warmer temperatures will find their way into our region. We are so sick and tired of dealing with cold air, misty mornings, blustery winds and also snow which we – surprisingly – had quite a bit in January/February. We want to put all our bulky winter clothes away and exchange them with shorts and T-shirts and get in front of the house again.

Hopefully we will be able to finish up our living room before February 28th, when the big party starts. We are planning another IKEA-trip to Chicago this weekend to purchase the flooring, a couch, a desk and some decorating nicknacks. I will still have to sew window treatments, paint two pictures and I am already working on some food stuff for the party. So the upcoming weekend and the following week will be very busy for us, but we love to do things like that. Especially when the outcome is nice – and we hope this will be the case.

We will post new pictures of the new living room and the party probably in March, when everything is said and done. So check back pretty soon to see the results.  For those of our international viewers who can’t fall asleep on Feb 28th in the evening: we might turn our webcam into the living room to capture the party – its not for sure right now, I have to talk to the Webmaster (my wonderful husband) if he can manage that

See you then!

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We have just setup an Online Catalog for the website which will feature Susi’s Craft Items and Hand Painted ceramic and glass pieces which are available for purchase. We will be added many more items in the near future, so be sure to check back from time to time. As always, if you have a special request for an item, you can always shoot Susi an email with all of the details of what you are interested in.

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Just a few minutes ago, I stumbled upon a new WordPress Theme called “THAT Remodeling Theme” created by THAT Agency.  Since the majority of the content on our website is devoted to the renovation/remodeling of our 130 year old house, I thought that it was appropriate for the site.  The switch in themes, also goes hand in hand with what we have done with our house.  The old house was very traditional as was our website.  The new house that emerges is sharp, crisp and clean, just like the new the new theme for the website…

Let us know what you think.

Dave and Susi

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Now that all of the pomp and circumstance of the New Year has come and passed, I felt it was time to blog a little bit about it. This year, we celebrated the New Year as we had done for the past 4 years with friends in Chesterfield MO. As always, we had a very nice time, and really enjoyed being with those that we don’t get to see very often. The food was wonderful, and a generally good time was had by all. The mood this year was however a bit different than it had been in years past. Perhaps this can be attributed to the uncertain economic times, or the apprehension of the coming changes associated with the new President taking office later this month. Perhaps it is just that we are all getting older and wiser and have succumbed to the realization that our once young bodies simply can’t take the abuse as well as they did in years past. At any rate, this was a pretty sober New Years, both in terms of the amount of alcohol consumed and additionally in terms of the overall mood of the part goers. We are both very much looking forward to the New Year, certainly with much anticipation of the things to come this year, and hope very much that 2009 will bring good health, prosperity and happiness to everyone.

Mark your calendars, we have scheduled the Grand “Almost Complete Reveal” party for the 28th of February 2009. The festivities will begin starting at 2PM and will continue until who knows… We decided to have the party a bit earlier in the year, as once the weather begins to improve peoples schedules suddenly begin to get very full. We sent out the invitation last evening, but if for some reason you have not received it, please get in touch with Susi or David. We look forward to celebrating our progress on our 1+ Year long house renovation project and hope to see many of you on the 28th of February 2009.

David and Susi

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We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  As 2008 nears its end, and we enter full swing into the holiday season, we send Season’s Greeting’s to all of our friends and family both near and far–you are always in our thoughts and prayers!

For those of you that know us, it was a busy year for us to say the very least!

If you have been following the progress of our year long house reconstruction project, we have accomplished quite a lot this year.  While I would like to say we are finished, I am however afraid to say that we are not quite there yet–but it does get much closer. We had hoped initially to be finished with the main parts of the project this year before the holidays.  In looking back at all of the work which was done, I think we can all say that would have been a bit ambitious.  Whenever we end up finishing the project, there will indeed be one hell of a party!  Hopefully the celebrating will happen long before another year comes and goes.

Sending our best wishes!

David and Susi

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