A Beautiful Southern Wisconsin Lake

I didn’t even know about Yellowstone Lake. We’ve driven around this area in southwest Wisconsin but never really tracked it down. It was getting kind of late in the day on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers and our Packers were in the midst of their almost brilliant comeback against Brett Favre and the men who shall wear purple. I think the Vikings should have red helmets. Then they could go to tea with the red hat ladies and Brett could get that senior 10% that he so rightly deserves.



I was thinking to myself if we hurry and get to a pub I can still watch the fourth quarter. But we still wanted to check out Yellowstone Lake. It was well worth it. This photo doesn’t begin to capture how beautiful the place is but it was getting dark. The lake is a fairly long body of water and from where we were there did not appear to be any dwellings. A lake in southern Wisconsin without cottages every twenty five feet. If you are ever in the area of Mineral Point it is about 15 miles or so to the southeast and is part of the Wisconsin State Parks system. Definitely worth the trip. We did a quick drive through and now we are excited to go back. Managed to get to the pub in time to see the fourth quarter too.



The Show Gig body made it into primer yesterday. Any small voids were also spot filled and those areas will now level nicely when sanded out. Bob is going to start blocking this with 220 today and preparing it for the next primer coat. I continue to work on the shafts.



Sometimes we use black primer. Sometimes we use gray. Dale has his secret system for primer color based on what color he is painting over it. Don’t ask me what the formula to the system is. I have no clue. I’ve been trying to figure it out now for the last three years and still have no idea. My goal for 2010 is to uncover the secret of which color primer to use under which color paint.



The boys are starting a new project this week. It is the restoration of a Brewster Tub Cart. This vehicle is the sister to Mad Max. You need to go back to May or June to read the Mad Max story. Anyway this was the other vehicle that I went to see in upstate New York. Luckily I lived to tell about it.



This is a really nice Brewster vehicle that will be absolutely stunning when completed. Write it down, mark my words, absolutely stunning. It is an original natural finish carriage in very solid condition. It is missing a few things that we are replacing like the parasol and the lamps and lamp bracket. The brackets are sort of there. My guess is someone wanted the lamps and didn’t know how to get them out of the brackets. Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s saw them off. So somewhere in New York there is a $2,500 pair of original Brewster lamps hanging beside somebody’s front door rusting away.




Our client has a nice pair of smaller Brewster round face lamps that we restored a couple of years ago just for such an occasion. I think they might look really good on this carriage so we will test out that theory as we progress. Hopefully they are brass. I just can’t remember as it‘s been a while. The upholstery is pretty intact and will make for a nice pattern. It is original and done in a tan cotton duck.



Here you can see one of the original Brewster oil caps, both of which are in great shape. You can also see the condition of the original finish in more detail. Bob started taking the carriage apart today and it looks like the finish will come off clean. This will be a very beautiful piece and I am excited to see it completed.

Our air compressor finally retired. At least it knows when it’s worn out and past its prime. I came across a clean used 80 gallon, 5 horse Rol-Air Industrial that I will be picking up later this afternoon. Woo Hoo!

Have a great Tuesday!
T