30 April 2011

Yesterday’s weather forecast for today was for clearing after midnight, sunny, highs in the low 60’s.  Actual weather: rainstorm at 2:30 am, cold and cloudy all morning, then cleared off into a beautiful day with highs in the mid 40s.  Worked in the morning dreading each time I had to wash a rock, but got another course laid and parged in three sections.  Decided it was time for a break from rock work after lunch, so hauled chairs and a ladder up from the dock shack, made a run into Brandon for victuals, and generally puttered around – my way of relaxing.  Lake temperature still is 44 degrees, but I’m starting to have doubts about the accuracy of my thermometer.  This afternoon I was sitting in Delores, too hot in just a long-sleeve T-shirt, and the thermometer read 60 degrees.  Maybe the winter just past (or the mice!) traumatized the poor thing.  Water level, after all the recent rain, is 1 inch below the top of the dock.  After dinner, decided the wind had died down enough to risk a campfire… sorely needed both for mental health and to eliminate the winter’s detritus from around the picnic / campfire site.  The eagle-eyed among you will spot the wine glass on the rock in the background.  The contents are a further inducement to come hither and enjoy the Fern Lake ambiance… a brandy made hereabouts from pure Vermont Grade A maple syrup.  Lip smackin’ good!  The PERFECT accompaniment to a campfire on a chilly evening… or maybe even a not so chilly evening.

29 April 2011

The south wall is done!  (That’s the wall at the far end of all these pictures I keep taking… the one with the Vermont and the Triangle, Square, Circle rocks.) Well, sort of… all that remains to do is clear out the landslide debris that has accumulated over the past two weeks, install some additional rebar, place plywood and 2 x 4 forms on the exterior side of the wall, and pour the concrete reinforcement.  Small potatoes!  To celebrate, having a beer with my pizza tonight!  Thought about having a barbecue on the campfire... but the mere thought brought a rain shower out of nowhere to end what had been a very nice day.

28 April 2011

Oh, well, ‘tis April in Vermont, which means more rain today.  There had better be a ton of flowers in May…  In spite of steady showers, worked on the thirteenth and fourteenth courses in the seven sections of between-columns walls that will be totally underground (i.e., under the driveway).  Used the diamond bladed Skillsaw, sledgehammers, cold chisels, and my rock hammer extensively to “encourage” many misshapen rocks to fit where I wanted them.  Just as I was headed back out to work after lunch a tremendous downpour arrived… rain came down so hard it even made puddles, a very rare event because the soils here are so porous (glacial till).  Decided maybe this would be a good time to do some ancillary shed design drawings.  As a consequence, didn’t get the final rocks dry laid until 2 o’clock.  Looked like the weather was breaking, so decided to start parging.  Needless to say, Mother Nature was just teasing.  Do you know what the difference is between good, strong mortar mix and cement soup?  Answer: a few drops of water… which was supplied in buckets just as I finished mixing up the third batch of mud.  On a positive note, the sun was shining brightly while my mortar was getting soaked, so there was a nice rainbow.

27 April 2011

A BEAUTIFUL, mostly sunny day.  By 10:00 had stripped down to just a T-shirt for working; reached 80 degrees mid-afternoon.  Took two tries, but managed to cut and shape a large stone to form an arch over Vermont… that way there will be no downward pressure on the effigy rock from the two courses above.  The twelfth course and parts of the thirteenth and fourteenth courses, now are complete, except for the one section stuck at eight courses awaiting an electrical switch box installation.  A great day topped off by an even nicer evening – steak dinner at Chez Lapidus.

26 April 2011

A totally yucky morning, so went over to Lynne & Perry’s to do two week’s worth of laundry.  Didn’t get back to Fern Lake until 1:30 pm – I had a LOT of dirty clothes.  By then the rain had abated, so worked in the shed cellar hole for the rest of the afternoon laying and parging rocks.  Added another course of Calais sauna stones to the section I did yesterday.  After being subjected to repeated heat and water stress for a couple of decades, those rocks have some amazing colors.  Also put Vermont back where it belongs, but not without considerable difficulty… just didn’t want to stay put.  Needless to say, the brace holding it in position is being left in place overnight. The last pile of snow in the Lapidus’ yard finally disappeared overnight, so I guess this means that spring has sprung.

25 April 2011

Was SUPPOSED to be a reasonably nice day, so planned to have the first campfire of the season and barbeque chicken for dinner.  Which meant, of course, that it started raining about 4 o’clock…  story of my life!  Laid and parged five sections of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth courses, including one section made up entirely of rocks from Steve’s old sauna stove.  Carefully installed the State of Vermont (or at least the igneous form thereof that Tammy Walsh unearthed last week) in a prominent, central location just above the triangle, square, circle rocks.  Vermont was a bit tipsy, so had to brace it in position while I applied the mortar mix.  An hour later (when the mortar SHOULD have taken its initial set), took off the brace… whereupon Vermont took a header (must have been VERY tipsy), taking a chip out of the footer.  Some mosquitoes around today, but not too bothersome.  Leicester being the Mosquito Capital of the World, you can assume that the foregoing statement will be true from now until October, unless otherwise noted.

24 April 2011

Steve, Perry, and I removed the old sauna stove (weighing several hundred pounds) out of Steve’s sauna room, no mean feat as some disassembly of the room doorway was required.  Wonder what the back pain level will be tonight???? Steve gave me a wheelbarrow load of stones (that used to provide sauna steam) that I will incorporate into the shed walls as a memento to hot times in Calais.  Then we went down the road to Paul Orlander’s for a tour of his sugar house and to pick up a couple of gallons of maple syrup. After that, (joined by Steve’s girlfriend, Mary) we journeyed down to the big city (Montpelier) where we met Alverta for Easter buffet brunch at J. Morgans Restaurant (where Perry recently spent several weeks helping with a major renovation).  Then Perry and I headed back to Salisbury and Leicester, arriving home just before 4... and vowing never to eat again.  (Kim and Leanne – shades of San Diego all over again, except the chocolate fountain wasn’t nearly as spectacular!)  Perry came over to Fern Lake with Erin (his daughter – who was making her first visit to the property) for another load of firewood.  I worked until dark moving into a pile by the campfire site the spruce and fir logs that Perry had rejected.  Now have well over a cord ready for cutting and splitting after we use up the large pile that Alex spit last week.  A glass of 2008 River Road Zinfandel Reserve Selection was dinner.

23 April 2011

A rainy, nasty day, PERFECT for staying inside the nice warm RV and figuring out how to figure out how much concrete will be needed when we pour the strength walls behind the between-column rock walls, which is exactly what I did in the morning.  The problem, of course, is that the exterior sides of those rock walls are very uneven, meaning the concrete that will be poured against those surfaces will have widely varying thicknesses.  After some head-scratching, came up with a statistical sampling technique using Excel’s random number function.  At 1 o’clock, went over to Lynne & Perry’s, where Perry and I spent some quality time reviewing the Fern Lake house specifications document.  Shortly after 3 we left for my brother Steve’s place in East Calais, where we enjoyed the last sauna before Steve does a major renovation of his sauna room.  Then Steve made his famous fondue for dinner.  After the sauna, enjoyed the first sleep in months free from back pain.

22 April 2011

A beautiful sunny day with temps in the lower 50’s…  by mid-afternoon had stripped off my winter jacket, wool hat, and sweatshirt.  MUCH more pleasant working conditions than the last week.  Consequently made a heap of progress… completing most of the twelfth course of between-column rock walls.  Perry came over for another truckload of firewood and to give me some house design materials to drool over.  While I was sitting on the Wheeless – Middleton back porch after dinner, using their internet connection to update blog postings, several mosquitoes flew by… not boding well for the upcoming flying insect season.

21 April 2011

Snow flurries off and on all day; at noon ‘twas a blustery 42° outside, PERFECT #$@!!*% weather for washing and placing rocks. But, as the man said, the walls ain’t agonna build themselves. Put me in mind of the first assignment I had as a professional ski patrolman at Killington way back in 1972 – helping to build the concrete block foundation for a sewage pump house.  As a similarly cold day turned into an even colder evening, I told the job foreman that the mortar mix was freezing, not setting.  “Nah,” he said, “it’ll be fine.”  Came the spring thaw, the foundation, and building, collapsed.  Today tried wearing the dishwashing rubber gloves under my leather work gloves, which kept the hands just well chilled vice frozen.  Definitely needed my long underwear today… except that I foolishly left it in Virginia.  Of course the only times the sun came out were when I was inside for a hot lunch and just as soon as I quit for the evening.  All whining aside, most of the eleventh course now is built.

20 April 2011

Delores kept me warm all night and her furnace still worked this morning.  That’s miraculous… read on.  After picking up sharpened saw blades at Ernie Miner’s Saw Shop, took Delores, extended steps and all, into Middlebury for propane.  Backed up to the pump at Agway just as a substantial thunderstorm hit.  So settled in for the duration catching up on accounting paperwork… one of the advantages of traveling in an RV.  Once the storm passed, the attendant put 18.85 gallons into Delores’ 23 gallon propane tank.  However, there is a backpressure cutoff when the tank reaches 80% full to allow for vapor expansion.  Do the math: 80% of 23 gallons is 18.4 gallons.  Obviously the furnace was running on fumes (literally and figuratively) last night.  Stopped by Hannaford’s for four grocery necessities… left the store $65 poorer, but I’m sure going to eat well!  Dropped off the Jonsered at Taylor Rental for what should be a simple carburetion adjustment. With Delores again parked in her accustomed spot back at Fern Lake and just as I was about to make lunch, Liam Powers and Gary Perkins (co-owners of Electrical Power Solutions) showed up to take a look at wiring the Taj Mahal woodshed.  By the time they departed, $$ in their eyes, I was way late for my own departure with the Ranger to Junction Auto for its annual inspection, an oil change, and to put the 41 psi tires on the back and the 35 psi tires on the front, vice having one of each front and rear.  Picked up the Jonsered on the way back to Fern Lake; no charge for the adjustment, and the saw now runs MUCH better!

19 April 2011

Spent the day laying and parging the rest of the tenth course of between-column rock walls, except for one section where an electrical box needs to be installed before further building can occur.  Miserable cold work for the first few hours, even with the sun out.  Perry was back and forth all day cutting and removing firewood.  Over the past year he has made virtually all of the downed trees between VT 53 and the RV disappear, greatly improving the appearance of the driveway environs.  Perry brought over homemade soup and sandwiches for lunch.  Absolutely delicious, as always with his creations, AND warming!  The propane tank gauge is hovering just above E as this is written.  Fingers crossed that there is enough juice left to keep heat in the RV through the night. Why, you ask, have I let the tank get so precariously empty?  Because a week ago the tank was ¾ full, and Agway only gives their 10% senior citizen discount on Wednesdays (which is tomorrow).  And no true Vermonter would EVER pass up a 10% discount…

18 April 2011

Another cold, raw day except for the two brief occasions when the sun poked through.  Alex, joined by Katy when her studying was caught up, spent the day washing and laying rock on the between-column walls while I worked in their wake parging their creations into place for all eternity.  The ninth and half of the tenth courses are done.  All of the east wall sections under the main part of the shed now are the height they need to be for pouring the reinforcing concrete wall behind them, i.e., no more work need be done on those five sections until after the next concrete pour.  Perry came over for lunch, after which we loaded his pickup with a goodly quantity of hardwood that also used to inhabit the area where the shed is being built.  Alex and Katy headed back to Boston mid-afternoon, leftover lasagna in hand.  Hopefully that will be a sufficient inducement for them to return soon.

17 April 2011

Tackled the mouse-nest-in-oven situation right after breakfast.  To call the interior of the oven filthy does a great disservice to good old all American filth.  My profound apologies to everyone who has previously eaten food prepared in that appliance.  Obviously those of you still alive have excellent immune systems.  Spent the balance of the morning preparing a fabulous evening repast for Alex and Katy, who arrived at 11:30 for an overnight stay.  After lunch, Alex and I bucked up, split, and stacked .43 cords of spruce and fir that once inhabited the area where the woodshed is being built.  We now have a more than abundant supply of campfire wood.  What we don’t have is weather conducive to sitting around a campfire of an evening.  Katy, who is working on a double Masters degree from Boston University, spent the afternoon studying inside Delores’ palatial and warm accommodations.

16 April 2011

An overcast, totally raw day, made even rawer by having to put my hands into 40° water every few minutes to scrub the dirt off rocks destined for the between-columns walls.  By lunchtime not even hot soup could take the chill off.  Got six sections done (laid and parged) by 4 o’clock when the forecast storm hit with a vengeance – 40 mph winds and sleet.  Enough!  While making dinner, decided to ignite the oven pilot light in preparation for baking Alex’s birthday cake.  Discovered, much to my dismay, that taking up the lower half of the oven is a huge mouse nest, twin to the one removed from above the microwave on Tuesday.  How do they even get into the oven?!?!  Grabbed the 2005 deLorimier Cabernet Sauvignon and didn’t even bother with a wine glass!  Quite a nice vintage, but meant to be sipped, not gulped.

15 April 2011

A sunny, mid-40’s day… perfect for hard manual labor.  Tammy Walsh and her Kubota B3200 loader/backhoe showed up shortly after 8.  First item on the agenda was to paw through the piles of rock that were deposited either side of the driveway out by VT 53 when this property was an active farm.  Even though my standards for what constituted a “good” building rock steadily declined over the morning, we only managed to fill the pickup twice with our gleanings.  Mind you, the Ranger is a ¼ ton pickup, but when the bed is loaded to the sideboards with rock there’s about ¾ ton on board… and the front wheels only make intermittent contact with the ground.  Also, with that kind of load you don’t back down the hill to the lower shed level… you sliiiiiiiide down.  Anything for a little excitement, I say.  Tammy found a rock that is the exact shape of Vermont… or New Hampshire, if you turn it upside down.  Rock picking done, Tammy and I set about the task of moving the half-dozen 200 – 500 pound rocks that had left their beds in the shed cellar hole excavation over the winter and cascaded down against the cement columns and rock walls.  Using the logging chain and her backhoe, we managed to get them back upslope enough for work on the walls to continue.  Hopefully they’ll stay where they were put for at least a couple of months.  Any bets????  After Tammy left, spent the balance of the afternoon, shovel in hand, removing all the dirt that had accompanied the rocks down slope when nobody was looking.  Used said dirt to fill in the exterior of the hole up to the top of the footers, making walking around the perimeter much easier.

14 April 2011

Remembered to call Alex’s voicemail to wish him a happy birthday.  Me good Dad (this year)!  Re-inflated the absolutely flat left front tire on the Ranger, then carefully removed said vehicle and Hopea Kanootti from winter storage in the shed cellar hole. Truck started on the first turn of the key! You’ll remember that last year it was the RIGHT front tire that went flat over the winter.  Obviously the mice and/or squirrels are having a little fun at my expense during snow season.  Removed all the wood and rocks that I put in place last fall to protect the tops of the shed between-column rock walls from ice damage.  Amazingly, all walls, the concrete columns, and the footers were perfectly intact with nary a crack or loose stone to be found.  Called Ehler’s RV to see about getting the main cabin door steps repaired (under warranty, one hopes!).  Got a recording, “The number you have reached is no longer in service.”  Uh, oh!!!!  So, Alverta, looking for an excuse not to balance her check book, drove over to Essex Junction from South Burlington and discovered an empty building with a big For Lease sign where once was the only RV dealer worthy of the name in the entire state.  The tale of the steps to be continued…  After lunch, carefully took down a 9″ red maple whose top had broken off 10′ above the ground, then wedged itself between two fir trees immediately adjacent to the 55 gallon drum that holds my emergency water supply.  A little dexterous work with the Jonsered, a few pulls on ye olde logging chain with the truck, and the tree was on the ground, with not a scratch on the water drum.  While cutting up the carcass the Jonsered began misbehaving – refusing to start after running fine for several minutes (shades of my old Stihl during the driveway clearing saga).  So into the RV gas tank went the contents of the chain saw gas can (the solution to pollution is dilution) and into Middlebury I went for a fresh supply, plus the additive needed these days to counteract the ethanol that the Vermont legislature, who obviously don’t use 2-cycle engine equipment, now mandates be blended into all gasoline sold in the state. Fresh gas plus additive to counteract the additive solved the starting problem, but the saw needs a visit to Taylor Rental for a carburetor adjustment (something an owner can no longer do himself due to EPA air pollution regulations… yet another sign that the Apocalypse is upon us).     Driving down Fern Lake Road on the way into town, saw that Minor’s Saw Sharpening Shop door was open (have been trying to catch him “at home” since last summer), so dropped off eight dead saw blades for sharpening after finding out that his prices are VERY reasonable.  Still a few yards of ice at the very south end of Fern Lake.  Being brave stupid, took the thermometer down to the dock to establish the beginning-of-swim-season baseline temperature.  Air temperature 47°.  Water level 5″ below the top of the dock.  Stuck my arm in the water to get the reading two feet down.  Grit my teeth, cross my legs, and whimper all I wanted, could only keep things submerged for a half minute.  Thermometer read 44°.  “That can’t be right”, he said plaintively.  So, pain being the mother of invention, found a stick and some duct tape, and tried again.  Even after several minutes immersion, the thermometer still read 44°.  So maybe swim season is not so far off after all.

13 April 2011

A nasty, rainy typical April day.  Made preparations to take Delores out for some exercise (i.e., over to Lynne & Perry’s for some “good” water… not that the water that comes out of Fern Lake via the Wheeless-Middleton’s isn’t good, but I know for a fact that fish pee in that supply).  Turned the key and the RV main cabin door steps (that I paid $$$$ to have replaced last August) did not retract.  Boo, hiss!!!!  So drove over to the Pirkkanens anyway, being very careful not to sideswipe anything due to Delores being extra wide (please note that I didn’t accuse her of being fat).  After returning from that foray, passed by the shed cellar hole for about the twentieth time since yesterday (being nothing if not keenly observant) and noted that some major landslides had occurred there over the winter.  And some of the rocks now resting against the cement columns and between-column walls ain’t small, neither!  We’ll see on Friday just how far Tammy Walsh’s backhoe will really reach…  It being a good day for inside work, repaired two kitchen cabinet and the bathroom door latches that had been driving me slightly nuts for some time.  Now all work as they should.  Made an emergency run into Middlebury for Ben & Jerry’s (and another 50′ length of water hose), then stopped by Lynne’s office on the way back to give her a fix of Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch.

12 April 2011

(Over) loaded the van, per usual, with all the “stuff” needed for a month of RV camping and the upcoming construction season, plus a plump 164 pound driver.  Unfortunately, left Springfield 15 minutes later than planned, so instead of being just ahead of rush hour, took 45 minutes to go the first 12 miles.  After that was clear sailing (except for a minor bridge-construction slowdown in Philadelphia) all the way north.  Just over 9 hours for the trip.  Rained from Philly to an hour south of Albany.  Sun came out when I crossed into Vermont – hopefully a good omen.  Still lots of ice on the south end of Fern Lake, and about 20 yards along the shoreline by our dock.  Don’t think we’ll be swimming this week.  All the snow is gone from our property, though the Lapidus’ still have a goodly supply.  Delores looked much as I had left her – from the outside that is…  Tarp removed, found that the urban legend that cat hair placed around and under the RV will keep the furry creatures away is MYTH BUSTED!  A major nest (made from all of the remaining RV insulation, no doubt) in the compartment above the microwave where the soda is kept, and mouse droppings all over the shop.  And by “all over” I mean that I spent several hours washing all the silverware, plates, and utensils, plus their storage compartments, that wintered over.  About 8:30 was reminded that I hadn’t had dinner, so inhaled a generic can of Chef Boyardee… and a few ounces of restorative from a bottle with a black label… and called it a day.