Admittedly, posts here have gotten sparse, but I can make up for the whole year right here with this post! I’ll fill in all the blanks – it’s gonna get long for what turned out to be an amazing year for the Bass Lake Schoolhouse.
January
I started the year off quite ambitiously by buying a bunch of glass and starting to create a Bass Lake Schoolhouse sign for above the front door. I might have been too ambitious, as it’s coming along ‘well’, but no where near completed. There’s always next year, and at this point, it’s gonna have to be.
February
One thing that distracted me in February was the addition of a replacement flock of chicks to the Schoolhouse milieu. I had in mind to order 10, but an even dozen seemed better. Then the website required a minimum order of 15, and would throw in a bonus chick, and a bonus bonus chick showed up in the box – so 17 total. Betty and Rose are fascinated with the new arrivals.
March
We found a new thing in March… we had two slabs of walnut lying around for years, so Kevin joined them together and we made a new desk for the schoolhouse office. Great project for a stay-inside kind of month.
Meanwhile, we brought the schoolhouse up to modern times with solar power on the garage roof. The south facing slope is perfect for generating our own power.
April
April brought new threats to our chicks when they were newly relocated outside…an entire family of racoons. Fortunately they weren’t able to find their way inside to the chickens, and were quickly ‘relocated’.
May
This is just one of many improvements you’ll see for this year in prep for something important. We had 2 schoolhouse desks given to us, and our friend Paul Z who is amazing at steel and welding-craft added them to this amazing back-yard gate. Where else but at a schoolhouse would a gate like this make sense?
June
The work in June focused on two projects -completing the tuckpointing on the east side of the school (I’m getting pretty good at this! Only 3 sides to go!)
…and new landscaping. Wow, it really turned out great!
It was a beautiful month of northern lights at the school as well. Here’s one (of maybe thousands?!) of my favorites.
July & August…
Late in the summer, with Dad’s help, we got the Merry-Go_Round in place. Since then, we’ve spent many an evening out there at grown-up recess.
But mostly, this month was just a scramble for…
September!
This was the month we waited for all year. A Wedding at the Schoolhouse! Kevin and I tied the knot with a TON of our family and friends to share the day with us. Despite the normal wedding mishaps (rain, loss of power, cold water in the water heater, questionable guess lodging), it turned out absolutely PERFECT!
It also gave us a chance to watch the Nebraska Cornhuskers play football. We set up the lean-to as an outdoor stadium and had a great tailgate party the night before.
To add to the busy-ness of the month, we also participated in the traditional River Road Ramble and had the most people ever stop by!
October
Finally, a rest. We took it easy, did some travelling and enjoyed the change of seasons. A bit more sudden than you would expect, but as my Mom always said ‘It’s Wisconsin.’
November and December
We’ve got the Christmas tree up, the fire stoked, and are ready to sit back and enjoy the long dark winter in comfort. Thank you to everyone who shared our 2024 journey with us and sending Schoolhouse wishes to everyone for a Happy 2025!
Great recap and amazing pictures! Fun to see and thank you for sharing.