July 20th - I have arrived!

I arrived in Rico tonite and Donna my landlord has our place to live all ready for us. What a relief after having been on the road for 4 days. What a rainstorm in Delta Colorado, not raining at all at both edges of Delta, but oh man, I never saw it rain like that before. Most everyone pulled over as you couldn’t see a thing.

My trailer is still heavily loaded with 2 large pallets of foam board for insulation, a large crate of wood corbels, a heavy crate of antique 6” glass blocks and a large steel basket with a multitude of heavy iron objects all destined for the house. Camper shell on my truck is loaded with all my tools.

On the way out I made a stop in Paxico, Kansas, and spent the day with a friend, Bud Hund, owner of Mill Creek Antiques, one of my favorite stores. Out back is the stove restoration shop. I delivered 2 of my antique stoves to him for rebuild; one is an Acorn gas cook stove - quite a piece and very complete. I found this stove in Fairfield, Iowa and it took 4 of us to drag it out of the National Guard Armory basement. The stove is 52” long, has 6 burners, 3 ovens, a warming oven and a really neat hood that stands nearly 7’ high. Bud had a restored Acorn in the shop, awaiting delivery, but it was smaller and without the hood. He hadn’t seen one with a hood before. The other stove is one I found in Ottumwa, Iowa and is called a “Todd” Stove. Oval in shape at each end, there were a number of manufacturers who made this style stove. The cast iron is quite decorative and it will be a beauty when finished. The brand name is a “Prairie Queen”. Some of the parts are missing, but Bud assures me we will be able to find or make the missing parts. A year from now they will be finished and ready to install…as long as the house is done.