Behold! Our latest acquisition for the Little Plum School House. A couple of weeks ago we met a friend in Osseo Wisconsin for breakfast at the Norske Nook (a regional Norwegian restaurant). It was early in the morning a
nd we had planned to go to Hixton to spend the day browsing antiques. On our way back to Little Plum Place, we swung back into Osseo. We had noticed what appeared to be a decent Antique shop across the street and it was now open. The Northwoods Antiques is a great little shop with many fine antiques. It boasts some impressive larger items, like a buggy and rooms full of smaller items. I was interested in his collection of Victrola’s (which is next on my wish list), but out of the corner of my eye, I saw this stove in his workroom. Ricky was excited about this stove. It is the same style and type of stove he remembered in his grandparents house. Rick looked over the stove and thought it would be a great addition to the schoolhouse. We paid our money, took a business card (Guy Houston the owner has no website, but you can contact him via [email protected]) and were on our way home to make plans to pick up the stove the following week.
Which brings us to Friday, January 11th. I had made arrangements to use my dad’s trailer to haul the stove. Rick was concerned about the weight of the stove and how we would manage to load in Osseo, so I called and arranged to borrow my brothers ‘farm’ truck. A 2001-chevy crew cab, that in it’s 15 plus years on the farm, has been washed twice, has rust for fenders and a forest of tree fresheners hanging in the cab that do little good to mask the odor of ‘dairy air’ that clings to the upholstery. My brother’s last words to us where ‘don’t get it dirty or put a dent in the fenders’, he walked away laughing. Rick had me drive the truck, in case anything happened. From the farm it is almost an hour drive. The weather was bright and sunny and not too cold-close to freezing. I pulled up in the alley, backed up to the door and we began to load the stove. Rick decided it would be best to have the stove sit up near the cab, in the corner behind the passenger side of the truck. The only problem was a broken hub from an axle was frozen to the bed of the truck. Guy handed Rick a small sledge hammer and within a few hits the hub was lose enough to get a pry bar under the hub. As I went into the back of the shop with Guy to get the bar, Rick took one more swing with the hammer, it bounced back, the handle of the sledge hammer hit the bottom corner of the back window of the truck. I came out, just as Rick said “$*&# I just broke your the back window”. By the time I said “What?” the small crack had traveled across the width and length of the window, crystallizing the glass. I stood and starting laughing as chunks of window fell into the truck bed.
With the hub out of the way, we finished loading the stove, strapped it down and asked Guy if there was an auto salvage yard near Osseo. Indeed there is, just two miles west of town. We headed out to the salvage yard, Rick bounded out of the truck, I rifled through the glove box to make sure we had the right year of truck. Success! These lovely people did not have a back window setting around, but there were two such trucks in the yard and for the low price of $50 it would take about 30-45 minutes to pull a new window. Rick paid the nice lady and we headed back to the Norske Nook for a quick lunch.
I called my brother to let him know we had hit a ‘snag’ and would be a little later than we had planned for unloading the stove. When I told my brother what had happened, his immediate response was “AWESOME”. Rick and my brother David, have a love/hate relationship. They love to tease each other and hate to pass up an opportunity (or ammunition) in which to get the others goat. Lunch finished, the call made, we picked up the rear window and headed back to Little Plum Place. A nice day for a drive, a bit chilly in the cab. With every little bump in the road, more and more chunks of glass fell into the back seat. By the time we hit the gas station at Durand, most of the windshield had fallen out. David met us to help unload the stove, return my car and to start teasing Rick. The banter back and forth was very entertaining.
And so we start the year out with a new project for Rick, he will be restoring the stove. When it is finished, I will post a new picture. As for my brother, his project is putting in his new rear window. I wish him well.