PBnJ5 Adventures

In November of 2020 we bought a house in Sarona, WI on Long Lake. As I mentioned in a previous post, which I am sure you remember from 2 years ago ?, this house was an unexpected blessing and life long dream realized. The lake house was our answer for the winter of 2020 to have someplace other than the RV to live. We closed on the house on November 6th, but in true Peterson fashion it was not move in ready, we buy them stinky and dirty. To be fair, it is the closest thing to move in ready that we have bought since 2005. While there was not major construction or painting that needed to be done, we needed to address the residents that were currently living in the house. Since the house had sat mostly vacant for 2 years, critters of the North Woods had taken full advantage of warm dry spaces. In the two weeks that we spent cleaning the house we removed 25 mice, dead and alive. They had climbed into the dryer through the vent hose and taken up residence, they were in the insulation along the top of the exposed walls in the unfinished part of the basement, they were in numerous places in the garage and the storage space above the garage, the couch in the basement, and my personal favorite: the gas range. It took us a little while to figure out what the smell was in the kitchen. We pulled the toe kick up from the kitchen cupboard thinking they had died under the cabinet, but found nothing (thankfully). All the cupboards were clean with no trace of their lovely droppings. The range was brand new, I am pretty sure it had cooked a pizza once in its life. So when you looked at it, nothing appeared to be wrong, except the odor. We thought that maybe since it was new it just needed to be “burned off” as you do with new ovens. I can tell you, that was a mistake. If you would like to know what roasted dead mouse smells like, I can tell you. It turns out that those nasty little creatures had climbed into the insulation between the oven and the stovetop, and proceeded to die. Well needless to say, we bought a new range. The other rodent that had decided to take residence was a chipmunk. He had decided that the upstairs bedroom with a brand new mattress laying on the floor was a perfect place to hide all of his nuts and use the mattress as his restroom. We bought the house fully furnished so not knowing what lurked under the couches and pillows will mess with you, at least me. It takes a little mental fortitude and a whole lot of vacuuming and scrubbing to feel like you have removed the mouse cooties and can rest comfortably on the couch and have peace of mind that the floors are clean.

Overall the house really was not in that bad of condition, and thanks to the help of Luke’s parents we got it cleaned up. With new appliances and a bunk bed for the boys we were ready to move in. On November 20th, exactly one year from the day we drove off in our RV we moved into the Lake house. If you want to talk about things we NEVER thought would happen in a year, that for sure hits the top 5.

We spent the winter hunkered down learning about life in the Great White North. We got to enjoy Christmas at the Lake and make special memories with the boys. Like on Christmas Eve, when the septic tank got clogged and started backing up in the basement. Thankfully septic tank technicians make house calls on Christmas Eve and were were able to continue flushing toilets and running water. We had a lovely experience of 2 weeks below 0 degrees and a few days of below -20. One lovely morning when it was -35, the boys got to see water freeze instantly when you throw it up in the air, fascinating. Kinda one of those saw it once, don’t really need to experience it again moments. We had a perfect year of smooth ice for ice skating and lots of sledding. I also learned something about my husband that I did not fully appreciate until this winter, the man loves to snowmobile. So it took a whole 7 weeks and a dream that the 2001 version of Luke had longed for came to live in our garage. A neon green F7 Fire Cat. There were also three other small boys living in the house who were equally as excited. It did provide great entertainment and a rare chance for a quiet house for me. Luke would pull them around the lake in a sled behind the snowmobile for as long as they could handle being frozen, kinda like a frozen smile on four faces.

We also turned into Lumber Jacks for the winter. We had several dead trees and a few that needed to come down to open up the view a little bit. So on our very steep hill we cut down and hauled and stacked over a dozen trees. I have learned that stacking wood on a steep incline can be very frustrating as they roll down the hill when not done properly. I also learned that Luke is very impressive with a chain saw and can drop a tree with impressive precision. And he looks good doing it ?.

We bought the house as an investment with the intention of using it as a short term vacation rental. So we spent the winter decorating and prepping the house for the upcoming rental season. We started renting in June and were booked through the end of September. Of course we had to block a couple weeks for us to use and have cousins up for a week of swimming, water skiing, and tubing. So many great memories for the cousins to continue like Luke did with his cousins. When we weren’t at the lake house we moved back into the RV at the farm.

The lake house was many things. A place to hide from the crazy and uncertain world of Covid. A place to feel at home and be warm and snuggly. A place to make memories that will forever be in my heart. A place to think about what our future might be. A place to experience a new business adventure. A place to see dreams come to fruition. A place to enjoy and marvel at God’s creation. A place to have extended family come and take a breath of relaxation. A place to cuddle and spend time with our kids. A place to learn how to push each other’s buttons a little bit more ?. And a most importantly a place to reflect on the faithfulness of God. In the midst of the most “unprecedented” (I HATE that word) time and uncertainty of our future, God dropped the most unexpected and needed blessing in our lap. All the details of how it all happened is something I will hold in my heart and treasure as all of the prayers that we had prayed were answered. Not necessarily how we thought they would, but in His perfect timing and way. His faithfulness was on full display in our minds and lives. God is good, all the time.