26 November 2008
Held annual 7-Course Dinner at our house in Virginia. After each course (and wine pairing), solicited names for the Fern Lake property driveway, then voted on the copious offerings. Alex and Katy (number two son and wife) came up with the two winning entries (tied vote): PVT Parts and Triangle Square Circle. Suspect that the Town Clerk may have a problem approving the former, so will go with the latter. My favorite entry, Perkins Drive, finished a distant eighth.
13 November 2008
12 November 2008
Met with Toby Rheaume to discuss logging marked trees. Reached agreement that Toby would charge for time spent harvesting the trees, but market the logs in my name (i.e., Chree gets the check from the sawmill)… and guaranteed we'd come out ahead by at least $100. Toby also was willing to clear out the smaller trees and take anything between 4″ - 10″ for firewood, paying $10 - $20 per cord. I agreed to obtain a burn permit to dispose of the slash, and would be able to salvage anything smaller than 4″ for firewood. Toby also was equipped to saw any of the logs into planks we might want to use in the house (e.g., the maples for Study shelves??). Spent the balance of the morning clearing, marking, and measuring the path from the where the Patio will be down to where I thought the dock / gazebo should be located on the lakefront... total distance 356 feet from the Patio SW corner to the pine on the water's edge.
11 November 2008
9 November 2008

18 October 2008
Chree received a bee keeper hat and veil for her birthday – protection against all biting flying insects. She loved it!!!!
15 October 2008
14 October 2008
At the property all day taking more rough elevation measurements on a 20' x 10' grid, assisted by Alverta. Still some mosquitoes! A perfect fall day with a picnic lunch. Sid Glassner gave permission to run utility services under his driveway from the end-of-the-line telephone / electric pole on his property over to the future house site on our property. Told Sid that he was welcome to salvage the stairway and dock on our lot.
19 August 2008
Real estate purchase closing with Joan Donahue (lawyer), Tom Whittaker, and Tom & Lisa O'Connor (sellers) at Conley & Foote, LLC, in Middlebury. Visited the property with Chree to rough out future house location and take more elevations.
17 July 2008
27 June 2008
Prologue
Back in 1974 Chree (wife) and I bought a 39 acre piece of undeveloped land on a (sometimes) sunny dirt road up in the hills of East Calais, Vermont. Our thought, way back then, was that, when the time came, we would retire to that property. That land is across the road from the rustic log cabin my father built, where he lived in for many years, and where my brother now lives.
As retirement got nearer in the mid-2000's, Chree and I began thinking about the living situation we each desired in our golden years. For Chree, the fierce summertime flying insect situation (deer flies, mosquitoes, and no-see-ums) in Calais was NOT what she had in mind... Much as I love that property (especially in the fall and winter), I could see her point... and an unwelcome divorce if I persisted with Calais retirement plans. So, during our vacations for three years in a row, Chree and I looked all over Vermont for the right piece of property on which to build our retirement dream home. We saw some properties we liked (not loved), but ultimately decided to wait until we were sure we'd found the right spot. Along the way we met Tom Whittaker, a real estate agent in Brandon, Vermont. He showed us several properties in the Lake Dunmore / Fern Lake area - located about 12 miles south of Middlebury, Vermont (home of the prestigious college by the same name). One place in particular, an A-frame chalet on Fern Lake, Chree absolutely loved. Unfortunately, that property wasn't available just then... but was expected to go sale in the near future. (Note: never happened.)
Fast forward to January 2008. Tom called one day to say that a property had just come on the market on Fern Lake that he thought was just what we wanted. The piece for sale was half of a double lot owned by Sid and Shelley Glassner (who had their home on the other half). By the next day, as I was scrambling to pack up and head north to take a gander, the owners already had three offers... and Tom was told by their real estate agent that I shouldn't waste my time coming up to Vermont. For obvious reasons, we weren't going to put in a bid sight unseen. Alas, the property sold, two days later, to Tom & Lisa O'Connor, a couple of Middlebury teachers.
Then, on 25 June Tom called again. Seems that the O'Connors had decided that they didn't want the Fern Lake property after all. First thing the next morning I was speeding north (but OF COURSE never, ever, going faster than the posted speed limit...).
As retirement got nearer in the mid-2000's, Chree and I began thinking about the living situation we each desired in our golden years. For Chree, the fierce summertime flying insect situation (deer flies, mosquitoes, and no-see-ums) in Calais was NOT what she had in mind... Much as I love that property (especially in the fall and winter), I could see her point... and an unwelcome divorce if I persisted with Calais retirement plans. So, during our vacations for three years in a row, Chree and I looked all over Vermont for the right piece of property on which to build our retirement dream home. We saw some properties we liked (not loved), but ultimately decided to wait until we were sure we'd found the right spot. Along the way we met Tom Whittaker, a real estate agent in Brandon, Vermont. He showed us several properties in the Lake Dunmore / Fern Lake area - located about 12 miles south of Middlebury, Vermont (home of the prestigious college by the same name). One place in particular, an A-frame chalet on Fern Lake, Chree absolutely loved. Unfortunately, that property wasn't available just then... but was expected to go sale in the near future. (Note: never happened.)
Fast forward to January 2008. Tom called one day to say that a property had just come on the market on Fern Lake that he thought was just what we wanted. The piece for sale was half of a double lot owned by Sid and Shelley Glassner (who had their home on the other half). By the next day, as I was scrambling to pack up and head north to take a gander, the owners already had three offers... and Tom was told by their real estate agent that I shouldn't waste my time coming up to Vermont. For obvious reasons, we weren't going to put in a bid sight unseen. Alas, the property sold, two days later, to Tom & Lisa O'Connor, a couple of Middlebury teachers.
Then, on 25 June Tom called again. Seems that the O'Connors had decided that they didn't want the Fern Lake property after all. First thing the next morning I was speeding north (but OF COURSE never, ever, going faster than the posted speed limit...).
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