Winter House Project

January 2026 we were ready to start our winter house project, The Great Room Remodel. By March it would feel like we'd made it through the worst of winter, but that was after nine weeks of non-stop hard work seven days a week! Winter passed while we picked away at our project.

Our great room is an 20 x 24 open space that is a combination of living room and dining area. The update includes repair of wainscoting with fresh wall, ceiling, steps and trim paint. We also replaced the stair tread runner with a Victorian pattern in shades of grey. Our walls were switched from wheat to sage, complimented with ultra white wainscoting and trim. Our stairs were painted white, with white trim, white banister, and spindles. The black stair treads make a stark contrast. We added black slate tile at the bottom of the stairs in front of our entryway to account for muddy shoes. The color combinations look fabulous and compliment our brown leather couches and wood furniture, as well as our 100+ year old original pine floors.

White stairs and rails with black treads

Black slate entryway 

Victorian grey runner

Runner next to tile

The pine floors were the catalyst to taking on this project. Some 25 years ago, we'd uncovered 5 flooring layers to expose the original pine. Once removed, we discovered there was no sub floor between them and the framing. In addition, the pine boards were no longer snug tight. Instead they had substantial cracks between them which required vacuuming often. The current goal was to remove the flooring, clean it up then plane it before re-laying it. The clean up included removing the old tongue and groove along with any bad spots. Dave routed new tongue and groove before reinstalling. It was very labor intensive and time consuming work but the end result is beautiful. Most boards still have square nail holes and blemishes from years of existing in a high traffic area of our home. They look their age which is exactly what we want!

Two sections completed, 3.5 to go

Ramps allowed crossing the new floors

Raised ramp to the basement steps

Due to the cleanup process of the wood flooring, we didn't have enough boards to complete the restoration. We stopped by Traditional Woodworking in Somerset, Wisconsin and found just what we needed, beautiful 100 year old reclaimed pine tongue and groove that matched our original flooring nicely. Traditional Woodworking is a great place to look for vintage products for historic homes and the owner, Russ, is wonderful to work with.

We'd hoped to finish this project before heading south in March, however the amount of work that the floors required made that goal unrealistic. Progress was slow due to moving furniture in order to pull up small sections at a time. We realized, quickly, that there was no need to rush. Eventually we'll complete the project and, I'm certain, be happy with our efforts!

Bentleyville Tour of Lights - Duluth MN

Bentleyville Tour of Lights, in Duluth, Minnesota, is an amazing, walk through holiday light experience. It began at the home of Nathan Bentley in Esko, Minnesota. He decorated his home for the holidays, adding more and more lights over the next five years and growing so large that his light show needed a new and larger site to accommodate the increasing crowds. Bentleyville Tour of Lights moved to Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth where it has grown even more. Millions of visitors have enjoyed this holiday extravaganza for the last 17 years.

We visited Duluth on a cold December Thursday, staying overnight at a downtown hotel so we could walk to the light show. After enjoying the holiday festivities, we stopped in at Grandma's Restaurant for a snack and a cold beer. We had a blast!

This event is magnificent. Parking cost $12 but entry is free and visitors are surrounded by over 5,000,000 dazzling lights. There is a towering 128 ft tree with a 40 ft base and 150,000 continuously changing light patterns that are synced to music. Complimentary hot chocolate, hot cider, popcorn, cookies and marshmallows are offered to visitors. Many cozy fire pits are available for roasting those marshmallows and warming chilled visitors. Costumed characters delight children all along the meandering walkways, offering hugs and hi-fives.  More than 1,500 volunteers make sure the magic continues each night. 

In addition to bringing holiday joy, Bentleyville conducts a food and toy drive to celebrate charitable giving.

You can read more about Bentleyville here:

Bentleyvilleusa.org

View from our hotel

Merry Christmas

Northern Lights

We were blessed with an evening of glorious Aurora Borealis this month. It wasn't the first time we'd witnessed this amazing natural phenomena, but it sure was the best we'd seen this far south in central Minnesota. The incredible light show was visible in Connecticut, Florida, and all over the southern United States. It was spectacular!

My first encounter with a glowing sky was in the 1990s. I was working nights and saw a red light in the distance on my drive home. I thought it was a police event and woke Dave to tell him all about it. From my description, he was certain that I had seen Northern lights. 

We were lucky to witness the Aurora when we had a slip at Knife River Marina, north of Duluth, MN. That viewing was very active with green and white colors that pulsed and danced across the northern sky. We sat on the rocks at the beach and watched, unable to take our eyes away. 

We happened to be in White Bear Lake visiting our friends Scott and Mary, during the most recent explosion! Mary received a bunch of notifications on her phone. Her daughter was sending cell phone images of the sky at her home nearby; glorious images of Northern Lights that streamed from one end to the other. We went outside and were rewarded with vibrant colors of red, purple, green and white. The streets were dotted with neighbors all holding their phones up and whispering in excitement as the colors and movement constantly changed! 

On our way home, we stopped at Otto Berg Park, on the north end of Stillwater, where it was dark with very little ambient light. The parking lot was buzzing with cars and folks were walking into the pitch black park to get a better view. It seemed like the entire town woke up and came out to share in nature's beautiful gift. Dave and I laid down in the grass and enjoyed the show until the wind and chill chased us back to the warmth of our car.

Northern Lights are magnetic, in origin as well as in attraction. They rate up there with meteor showers and phosphorescents. We never tire of viewing the natural expressions of beauty that they deliver. This particular show was special because it was visible with the naked eye all over the United States.

Canvas Waterproofing Project

A few years back, we purchased a heavy duty Sailrite sewing machine. It has been incredibly useful in creating an assortment of items for our Alberg 35, s/v Mystic. Among the projects we've completed are storage bags, winch covers, dinghy chaps, rain and sun tarps, and a winter cover.

The cover was our biggest project, taking a total of 50 yards of SurLast water repellent fabric. We got a great deal purchasing it from Rochford Supply's seconds bin for $5.00 per yard. The project took six weeks to put together but has proven to be well worth the work. It has protected our boat for the last five years, keeping her dry and shading her teak from the sun. Each spring, we inspect, clean and make repairs where needed. In spite of the exposure to the elements, it has held up nicely with only minor chaffing damage.

Last year, we decided to re-waterproof the canvas in the hope of extending the life of the cover. Over the counter spray products are easy to find but proved to be expensive. Dave researched making our own and found a recipe on one of the boat forums he follows. We decided to take it on as a DIY project.

There are only two ingredients in the waterproofing solution, silicone caulk and mineral spirits. We combined them in a large bucket then blended the mixture until the silicone completely dissolved into the mineral spirits. The amount of fabric we were working with required tripling the recipe. After cleaning the cover, we laid it on a poly tarp face up and rolled the waterproofing mixture over the entire cover, making sure to saturate every inch, then hung it outside until it was dry.

The fabric felt a little stiffer than before the treatment although it didn't feel heavier and it didn't smell like chemicals. Last fall, we installed the cover and crossed our fingers. When we returned in the spring, we found that a pocket of snow had accumulated over winter. As it melted it created a deep sag in the fabric, bulging downward with about 5 gallons of water. We were amazed to see that not a drop of water seeped through. The waterproofing did it's job!

I have to admit that I was a nervous about using a home-made recipe instead of purchasing a commercial product. I didn't want to ruin our cover. Not all fabrics can handle these chemicals, including Sunbrella. We researched SurLast and felt confident about the compatibility before beginning this project. We experienced a successful outcome and plan to use this method on our other boat canvas. 

 Waterproofing recipe:

10 oz tube of 100% clear silicone caulking 

1 gallon of odorless mineral spirits

Cleaning Sails

We are in the midst of winterizing our Alberg 35, Mystic. One of the tasks that was necessary this year is cleaning our main and jib sails. Both are going on 20 years old. The main is in pretty solid condition, the jib is starting to look a bit worn. 

We began the process by soaking the sails in a trough that Dave built with 2x4 framing and a plastic liner. We filled it with about 50 gallons of water and 2 cups of oxyclean dissolved in hot water. Oxyclean works by releasing the bond that dirt has with the canvas. It starts out as sodium percarbonate. When you dissolve it in water it breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and washing soda, (a kind of baking soda).

Sail soaking in trough

After the long soak, we scrubbed both sides of the sail with water and dawn dish detergent. We thoroughly rinsed it before hanging the sail from two trees. Once it was hung, we rinsed it some more and let it hang in our backyard all day until it was dry. 

Rinsing the main

More rinsing after hanging 

Once the main was clean, dried, flaked and stored we turned our focus on the jib. While we worked we kept an eye on the weather. The forecast called for rain in the afternoon. Unfortunately, precipitation arrived in the morning right after we'd hung the jib. Although it wasn't ideal, we draped the sail through our living and dining rooms. Dave added fans to speed up the drying. By dinner time we had a clean, and dry jib.

Jib hanging to dry

Jib draped through our house

That's a lot of sail

While we were cleaning the sails, we inspected them from the head to the clew. We found three tiny holes in the main that will need patching. The jib had deep stains on the sacrificial UV cover edge. After taking a closer look at this area we could see that it should be replaced. 

Cleaning our sails was a huge project that created two more huge projects. Each sail took two days to complete. Patching the micro holes in the main, and replacing the sacrificial UV cover on the jib will be labor intensive. We hope to have them completed before spring. 

The sails turned out great! Not all of the stains lifted but the majority of the canvas brightened during the process. We've owned Mystic for 13 years now.  It seems like a lot of boat projects are popping up these days. She's turning 60 next year, a good old boat that's seen a lot and travelled far. She's worth all of our hard work to keep her looking beautiful.