Errands in Middlebury consumed the morning… but at least my ice cream supply has been rescued from oblivion. Built and erected the concrete forms for the other two tall sections in the west wall. Took the thermometer down to the lake at cooling-off time. Try as I might, couldn’t get the darn thing to register any lower than 77 degrees two feet under the surface. With the air temp today in the upper 80’s, the water did feel just right, so maybe the thermometer is telling the truth. Global warming in action!
Memorial Day. Installed electrical conduit connections and, more importantly, weed-wacked the driveway in the morning. Erin Pirkkanen and three of her friends came over late morning to go canoeing / kayaking and swimming. Dock still under 3 inches of water. Built the forms for two of the seven-foot high sections in the west wall. Those sections have to be extra strong (and extra-well braced) as the pressure at the bottom of the form when the concrete is poured will be well north of half a ton per square foot. Concrete is VERY heavy stuff!!!! Mosquitoes are starting to come back; had to use the ThermaCELL lantern late afternoon to ward off the little beasts.
Finished bracing the first two sections of the west wall. Virtually no mosquitoes about, testament to the effectiveness of better living through chemicals. Knocked off work at 12:30 in order to give Delores a long-overdue scrubbing. At 2:30, having just completed the cleaning process, Tammy Walsh called, inviting me up to her place in Goshen to retrieve the pallet of granite tombstones I had bought through her. Took three trips in the (nominally) ¼ ton Ranger to retrieve 3,000 lbs of stone. By 5 o’clock that mission was accomplished and I was sorely in need of refreshment. And that is precisely why we bought lakefront property! Marty and Merry came over for burnt-to-a-crisp barbequed spareribs (and I finally incinerated the chicken that had been sitting in the refrigerator about forever waiting for decent barbequing weather). The Lapiduses are amazingly polite, even saying how wonderful the meal was while eating every bit of charcoal served to them. The wine they brought, a 2008 Pinot Noir from the Chilean vineyard owned by their friends, the Kingston family, certainly helped. A delightful evening in spite of my campfire cooking ineptitude.
Worked on forming and bracing the first two sections of the west wall. Would have finished that job easily if I hadn’t discovered, when halfway done, that I’d installed the second tier of bracing 10 inches too high… necessitating tearing out a couple of hours worth of progress and starting over. When the thunderstorm hit (again, just as I was thinking of starting the campfire for some barbecued chicken), I called it quits for the day. The RV main cabin door steps quit working again. Unwrapped the sauna stove to discover that it is not the brand I thought was being ordered. On a positive note, the mosquito control spray truck came by just before bedtime.
There was a violent thunderstorm in the middle of the night. First thing in the morning both Merry and Alverta (surrogate and real mothers) called to see if I had survived the apocalypse. Nice of them to be concerned! Spent most of the day erecting and bracing the concrete forms for two sections of the east wall. Perry reported that the Home Depot didn’t have the deck screws I need and that the sauna stove (to be installed next summer down at the waterfront) was ready for pickup at Goodro’s. During the ensuing trip into Middlebury the Ranger’s Check Engine light became extinguished of its own volition. So does that mean that there is no underlying problem? Hmm… Also stopped at Martin’s Lumber, who not only had the right screws but also an electrical fitting that I forgot to get from Liam yesterday. Just as I was putting away tools and getting ready to light the campfire another storm rolled through. The barbecued chicken will just have to wait until tomorrow.
Into Middlebury first thing in the morning: almost out of honey roasted peanuts again and the Brandon Hannaford’s doesn’t carry Bove’s Roasted Garlic spaghetti sauce anymore! While those items were on the list, the actual reason for the journey was to stop in at Goodro’s and order up additional concrete forming lumber and CDX plywood, plus pick up a large supply of refills for the ThermaCELL lantern. The Check Engine light came on in the Ranger during the trip, so an unplanned visit to Junction Auto is in the offing for next week. Goodro’s delivered my lumber at noon; amazing how small a pile you get for $850. Finished bracing the south wall forms. In the midst of that endeavor (which took longer to figure out HOW to do than to actually erect the bracing), Liam Powers came by to deliver the light fixtures that will be installed in the shed lower level, plus miscellaneous electrical fittings I needed, having bought ½″ stock in Virginia only to discover, upon arrival back at Fern Lake, that Liam and Gary had installed ¾″ conduit during their earlier work. After the form bracing was done, made a quick run to the Salisbury Free Library to satisfy an intense Stephenie Meyer craving, then dropped off some money at Perry’s so he could procure for me another 5 pounds of star-drive deck screws when he is at Home Depot in South Burlington tomorrow. The star-drive screws that Goodro’s carries are the ones that failed so completely under load when we poured the shed concrete columns last year. Returned to Fern Lake, hot and dirty, made a bee-line for the lake. There is such a delightful tension while wading into the 66 degree water… too fast and it takes your breath away and important appendages just fall right off; too slow and all the blood is sucked completely out of your body by flying insects with long proboscises. Once immersed, though, the water was amazingly refreshing.
Bosch rules! In about an hour this morning used my newly purchased Bosch 19-2 8.5 amp hammer drill to bore the ten 3-inch deep holes needed to attach the rebar for new concrete into the shed concrete already in place. Totally destroyed another ½″ super hard masonry bit in the process, but, what the hey, progress don’t come cheap. I hope my hands stop tingling by tomorrow… Alverta arrived shortly after the drilling was done and we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon swatting mosquitoes taking more measurements of the between-columns rock wall thickness. Then, while she enjoyed a spot in the sun in close proximity to the ThermaCELL lantern, I set about bracing the south wall forms erected yesterday. After Alverta escaped from paradise to return home, I tried to figure out how much of our kids inheritance to spend at Goodro Lumber tomorrow. Options seem to range from “a lot” to “most of it”. While the campfire was turning to cooking coals, turned the Ranger from yellow to green through the magic of water and a sponge.
Left our house in Virginia five minutes later than planned, which could have been a disaster in terms of the perennial battle with the Washington area commuter traffic. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, as I sailed out of town with minimal delays, resulting in arrival at Fern Lake in just over nine hours… with two 10-minute stops in Brandon on the way. First thing I did on arrival was swat a bazillion mosquitoes who decided I would make a good early supper. Hot stock tip: buy Johnson & Johnson (makers of Deep Woods Off). Managed to unload the van into the RV with only one mosquito making an unauthorized entry. At least I think it was only one… When I started Delores to deploy the slide-out, I heard a strange sound: the main cabin door steps retracting. Sure enough, they appear to be operating absolutely normally again. We’ll see how long that lasts! Maybe a mouse mechanic took pity on me while I was in Virginia. And speaking of mice: no signs of any visitors while I was gone. Went down to take the lake temperature with my new thermometer (66 degrees). Found Hopea Kanootti afloat in four inches of water ON the dock. Good thing I secured the canoe to the dock shack before I left. Guess there was a tad bit of rain here while I was down-country.
Normal (i.e., Washington traffic is just as frustrating as ever), just less than 9 hours, trip back to Virginia, where the trees were green and the grass was tall.
The “day” started at 2:30 am when I awoke with the realization that I had written 65 inches when I meant to say 6 feet 5 inches on some important design drawings that I had done last evening. Got up for good before sunrise, as today’s schedule (planned, of course, to the minute) was very full. Took all three vehicles into Middlebury in the morning (Delores has been whining about being parked at Fern Lake all the time and never getting to go anywhere.) First trip (in the van) was to Junction Auto to discuss some auto body repair work that is needed. On the way back south picked up the rebar cutter/bender at Taylor Rental and Perry’s hammer drill at his job site. Then spent a strenuous hour cutting and bending rebar and attempting to drill five ½ inch holes in the shed footers. Whoever ordered 3,500 psi concrete for those footers should be taken out and shot! I don’t think a direct hit by a nuclear missile would even chip the surface. Got one hole drilled and then my drill bit said, “That’s it, I’m done!”, and broke in two. Second trip (in the pickup) was to return the rebar cutter / bender, then pick up a quarter ton of ¾ inch stone at Carrara Concrete. I think they’re used to slightly larger orders, as I could have parked the pickup in the bucket of their loader. When I went in to pay, the dispatcher said, “Have a nice day.” Per the scales, they actually gave me 720 pounds of stone… which you can see is not a whole lot in terms of volume. But for the rest of that story, read on! Stopped at Goodro Lumber on the way back to buy a new ½ inch masonry drill bit and the epoxy needed to secure rebar into a drilled hole. Next I took Delores up to Agway for another 17 gallons of propane. She’s now a happy camper. Then the real fun started. Completely destroyed the new carbide-tipped drill bit… and Perry’s hammer drill probably will never talk to me again. Me, I doubt very much if I’ll even be able to walk tomorrow. The person who ordered 3,500 psi concrete should be slow roasted over an open fire… then shot! The bad news is that the five 3-inch deep holes that were critically needed today are only ⅓ of the number that will be needed in another month. The lesson learned here: place rebar into concrete BEFORE it sets! By 7 o’clock I had the footer forms in place and sooooo needed a hug. Settled for a frosty cold gin & tonic and Chef Boyardee right out of the can. Dee Lush Us!
As of 12:15 pm the between-column rock walls are complete to the stage where reinforcing concrete has to be poured behind the below-grade portions before further stone work can be done. Let the celebrations begin!!!! Here’s a picture of the completed section (7 feet high by 3 feet wide) containing the electrical box. No FBF all morning! After lunch transitioned from mason to carpenter. As you can see, with the tailgate of a pickup and a few quick clamps, voila, you have a mobile carpentry shop. Don’t know whether the Deep Woods Off attracted or repelled the FBF; was too busy sawing and assembling footer forms for the auxiliary shed storage area to pay them any mind, though there were lots of them about. Couldn’t afford to restrict my visibility with the beekeepers hat, so just ignored them.
A nice breeze all day that occasionally became downright windy. You New Englanders know what that means! Yes, NO bugs all day. Temps in the mid-60’s so perfect working conditions. All four of the west wall sections now are within one thin course of being ready for concrete. Spent a fun-filled two hours after dinner getting all the vertical rebar in place around the perimeter of the shed walls. If you want to know how many rebar tie wires I broke, you’ll have to be here to count. Suffice it to say that the metallic materials recycle bin isn’t completely full.
Sierra Squared, Delta Squared. (For you literati: a bottle of wine to anyone who can tell me what character in what book used that phrase to describe his daily activity.) Actually went without the beekeeper hat for a couple of hours. Managed to lock the RV main cabin door upon exiting (no one to blame this time but myself… darn!), but have cleverly kept the driver’s entry door unlocked, so no big woof except for the momentary panic when you go to open a door and find it locked… with the keys inside. The picture of the rocks and the level just proves the old adage that even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut.
Forecast was for heavy rain and a flood watch for this afternoon, so Liam Powers took a rain check on installing the shed electrical lights and power. Was at work by 6:45, getting the last course on the between-column walls that are exposed to the weather (under where the driveway will be). Now all the east and south side walls are ready for concrete reinforcement. Wore my rain jacket out to continue work after lunch. I’ll take full credit that it rained not a drop all afternoon. Got an additional course on three sections of the west wall… and had done all I could for the day by 4:15.
Was doing the measurements and calculations to determine just exactly where Fern Lake would be on the Vermont rock, when I discovered that I’m even more omnipotent than I had believed. Seems that I moved the entire Northeast Kingdom to the shores of Lake Champlain. (If you’re having trouble understanding the subtle humor here…and my embarrassment as a True Vermonter… compare the picture to a map of the state.) Oh well, once the cement has set, there’s no turning things around. Laid and parged seven sections of rock walls. A couple of squirts of Eau de Vermont solved the black fly problem. Miracle of miracles, the rain held off until just exactly as I was putting the tarp over the tools at the end of the day. Just for giggles after dinner, punched into a spreadsheet the 236 wall thickness measurements that Alverta and I took yesterday. The rock walls average 5¼ inches thick, but the range (per the random sample measurements we took) is between 3⅜ and 8 inches.
Into Middlebury first thing in the morning: almost out of honey roasted peanuts again and the Brandon Hannaford’s doesn’t carry Bove’s Roasted Garlic spaghetti sauce anymore! While those items were on the list, the actual reason for the journey was to stop in at Goodro’s and order up additional concrete forming lumber and CDX plywood, plus pick up a large supply of refills for the ThermaCELL lantern. The Check Engine light came on in the Ranger during the trip, so an unplanned visit to Junction Auto is in the offing for next week. Goodro’s delivered my lumber at noon; amazing how small a pile you get for $850. Finished bracing the south wall forms. In the midst of that endeavor (which took longer to figure out HOW to do than to actually erect the bracing), Liam Powers came by to deliver the light fixtures that will be installed in the shed lower level, plus miscellaneous electrical fittings I needed, having bought ½″ stock in Virginia only to discover, upon arrival back at Fern Lake, that Liam and Gary had installed ¾″ conduit during their earlier work. After the form bracing was done, made a quick run to the Salisbury Free Library to satisfy an intense Stephenie Meyer craving, then dropped off some money at Perry’s so he could procure for me another 5 pounds of star-drive deck screws when he is at Home Depot in South Burlington tomorrow. The star-drive screws that Goodro’s carries are the ones that failed so completely under load when we poured the shed concrete columns last year. Returned to Fern Lake, hot and dirty, made a bee-line for the lake. There is such a delightful tension while wading into the 66 degree water… too fast and it takes your breath away and important appendages just fall right off; too slow and all the blood is sucked completely out of your body by flying insects with long proboscises. Once immersed, though, the water was amazingly refreshing.
Bosch rules! In about an hour this morning used my newly purchased Bosch 19-2 8.5 amp hammer drill to bore the ten 3-inch deep holes needed to attach the rebar for new concrete into the shed concrete already in place. Totally destroyed another ½″ super hard masonry bit in the process, but, what the hey, progress don’t come cheap. I hope my hands stop tingling by tomorrow… Alverta arrived shortly after the drilling was done and we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon 
