31 July 2012

Stayed up way too late hooked on the final chapters of The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill… an excellent murder mystery (with touches of the occult) set in 1970’s Laos just after the Communists have taken control of the country.  When I finally got motivated this morning (extra strong Starbucks Breakfast Blend helped a lot), put the stringers and railing post (with deck light) on the in-ground posts I finished up with yesterday.  Then tackled the railing caps, railings, and toe caps for the first turn landing and the 8′ section of walkway that goes from the landing to the east side of the lower “driveway” gap.  The joints for those six pieces are all compound angles: 45° in one plane and 3½° in the second plane.  That’s why they make radial arm saws… though mine is an ancient and much abused Craftsman that probably wouldn’t recognize a ½ degree angle if it tripped over it.  At noon Tammy stopped by with her bill for the marriage-saving backhoe work she did… and admired the progress made since her last visit.  Mid-afternoon helped Marty install a window air conditioner in one of his west facing upstairs bedrooms, then headed into Salisbury and Middlebury to do errands, the most important of which was to replenish my Ben & Jerry’s supply get another section of ½″ PVC conduit for the low voltage electric line gap crossing trench.  Returned to Fern Lake just before 5 and decided to install the conduit, hook up the next deck light, and back fill the trench, all of which was done by swim call at 6:30.  Pizza, beer, and (need I say?) ice cream for dinner…

30 July 2012

Woke up at my “usual” time, circa 6:30, only to discover that it really was already 9 o’clock!  Guess that’s what happens when you get debauched and have two beers.  Finished digging the trench in which will be buried the low voltage wire to power the deck lights on the lake (or west, if you prefer) side of the lower “driveway”.  For obvious reasons, had to dig the trench below what will become the driveway grade level.  After awhile, felt that if the trench went any deeper on the upper end I’d have to start learning Chinese.  Surprisingly easy digging: mostly soft sand with only a few small rocks, though with lots of pesky roots.  Most un-Leicester-like!  That is until I got ⅔ of the way across and ran smack into a very large rock.  How large, you ask?  Though it was clearly labeled 600 pounds, you just can’t trust those Chinese.  Actual weight, once I got that sucker out of the ground, was better than 750 pounds.  Why not just go around the (fill in your own adjective) thing, you ask?  Well, I needed a place to put Perry’s 5-gallon water jug, and that rock seemed like just the ticket.  After the trench was finished, dug the holes for the next two in-ground posts.  Took me a couple of trials before they were where they should be, somewhat complicated by a 200 pound rock that was exactly where the southern post needed to go.  The good news?  Once that rock was liberated from the soil (child’s play compared to its cousin from the morning), not much more digging was needed before that hole was deep enough for the 4x4 post.

29 July 2012

Are you wondering why it took me most of the day to install two 8′ long longitudinals and 17 deck planks in the next section of the wooden walkway?  Here is just one example of how things went today: needed to clamp in place the 2x4x12 that serves as a temporary guide for aligning the deck boards.  Only there was a root from a tree stump in the way where the lower end of the 2x4 needed to go.  In order to cut the root without totally destroying my limb saw and/or root cutting ax, I had to remove a 75 pound boulder that was underneath the root… and held firmly in place by said root and several smaller, but not petite, sisters and brothers from the Igneous family.  A half hour of vigorous toil later, all was clear to start chopping.  During one of my more Bunyanesque back-swings with the ax, managed to clobber the deck light that I’d just installed on the nearby railing post.  Double-bladed root cutting ax vs. cheap tin light, you can guess who won that battle.  The good news is that I now have extra easily-lost mounting screws and an extra T-5 7w light bulb for the deck lights.  So, an hour and a half after beginning the one minute job of clamping a 2x4 in place, I was ready to start putting down deck boards.  Do you also wonder why I’m having more than one beer tonight in front of the campfire?  Finally figured out how to take elevations (using my poor-man’s transit: my father’s ancient leveling sight steadied on Tasi’s old camera tripod) with nobody available to hold the range rod.  My steel rock-removing bar and a quick clamp do the job quite nicely, thank you very much.  Also figured out that the walkway will need to continue on the other side of the lower “driveway” (the level area that will be used to access the rear of the house and the septic tanks located there) as though it crossed that 20′ gap with the same 7.5:1 slope it has everywhere else.  That way the walkway will only be 15″ or so above ground level at the next turn… a much more reasonable situation than if I’d stayed with my original plan to have the walkway cross the lower “driveway” with only a 6″ slope from one side to the other.

28 July 2012

Continuing the saga of missing things: as I was putting away tools this evening, noticed that the chuck key was not where it is always kept in the holder on the Bosch hammer-drill.  Not a big deal so long as henceforth I only want to drill ¼″ holes 8″ deep with a ship auger bit.  Put the deck boards on the first turn of the wooden walkway this morning.  Spent the early part of the afternoon surveying the next section of the walkway, which is extremely challenging without someone to hold the range rod while you shoot the elevation from 75 feet distant.  Bottom line (if I can believe my own observations and calculations… never a good bet): the walkway will be 3 feet up in the air at the next turn.  Hmmm….  Moved a fair amount of dirt and rocks out of the way, then put in the in-ground posts, stringers, and railing post for the next piece of the walkway.

27 July 2012

Rained hard on and off all night; awoke to a dreary, damp day, so decided to do some “inside” jobs for the first few hours.  No mice, sober or otherwise, in either trap.  Attempted to repair the bedroom blind, but the string I brought from Virginia for that purpose didn’t work.  Back to the drawing blinds board on that project.  Sharpened the chain (which was seriously abused cutting roots a couple of weeks ago) and did some not-so-periodic maintenance on Mr. Jonsered.  Then spent the balance of the day building the framework for the first turn on the wooden walkway.  Changed the construction design.  Instead of putting in two in-ground posts with an above-ground railing post secured between two stingers, put in one regular in-ground post and then put the railing post into the ground as well, with two stringers tying the two posts together.  The hard part is getting the top of the railing post at the right height, but that’s why they make Sawzalls.  Now that Chree and the dogs are gone, so are the deer flies.  Not many mosquitoes around, either.  Mid-afternoon misplaced my brand new 12′ tape measure.  Looked everywhere and couldn’t find it!  Called Chree and told her I needed a hug, but she had neither my tape nor spirit level (also among the missing).  Found the tape when I sat down in the Ranger; was in my back pocket the whole time...

26 July 2012

Left Virginia at the crack of dawn where the humidature (effective temperature given the humidity) was supposed to reach 109°F today.  After hiking a few feet on the Appalachian Trail yesterday, felt good to sit down for awhile… like maybe five minutes.  Even with moderate to heavy traffic the whole way, and having to go all the way around DC on the I-495 beltway ‘cause somebody forgot to put up a sign that says you can’t get to I-295 from anything but the right-hand lane which you have to enter before the Eisenhower Road exit (5 miles earlier), arrived in Brandon a “mere” 8½ hours (and 1,600mg of Ibuprophen) later.  Temperature inside Delores was a frigid 67°.  Had to open some windows to warm the place up!  Lake temperature is 79°… maybe I’ll sleep there tonight.  First of the Kingsley corn for dinner… yummy as always.  Opened the utensil drawer to get some tongs for removing said corn from the cooking water and discovered beaucoup mouse droppings and a wine bottle stopper that is a lot shorter than it used to be.  Set up both humane traps in hopes that the tipsy mouse (mice?) will be lacking judgment tonight.

18 July 2012

Back to Virginia.  Due to reported horrendous traffic backups on I-95, took the Merritt Parkway to the Tappan Zee Bridge, then down I-287 along the route I normally take from Vermont to Virginia.  Considerably longer distance and time, but that route also avoided traffic battles with the Cross Bronx “Expressway” and the New Jersey Turnpike.

17 July 2012

Spent the morning straightening up, putting away, and cleaning preparatory to an anticipated ten day absence.  Kate and fellow actress Finnerty Steeves (who played the New York American flight attendant in Boeing Boeing) came up to inspect progress and give me a big ego boost.  Left shortly before noon, headed for Chree’s parents in Connecticut.  Stopped en route at Giddings Manufacturing (and Kubota dealership) in Pittsford to discuss vandal-proofing options for the Triangle Square Circle driveway sign.  The sign maker suggested we change the driveway name as the best solution...  (Don't panic; not going to happen!)

16 July 2012

The first section of the wooden walkway is done (44 feet out of the total walkway length of 432 feet).  Only took two people, working pretty much full time, three weeks… plus help from Tammy the ace backhoe person.  You do the math as to when the full walkway will be completed.  On a positive note, the walkway looks REALLY good… especially after dark… and, like all my creations, is definitely built to last.  You know the saying: “Beauty: It’s Only A Light Switch Away”.  Also on a positive note, built a jig for aligning the deck boards and, voilá, Chree and my ongoing “discussion” about how straight is straight became ancient history.  On the other hand, Chree and I very carefully moved the final in-ground support exactly 1½″ downhill from its nominal position so that the last deck board in this section (according to my back-of-the-woodshed calculations) would be in exactly the right place for the transition to the corner.  Should have moved the support exactly 1½″ uphill, which we discovered when the final deck board ended up 3″ short of where it should be. 

15 July 2012

After a too short night, over to Lynne & Perry’s we went to lower the water level in their well a bit more (10 gallons of drinking water consumed in the last five days).  Then Chree and I went back to work on the walkway, but, after an hour of really hot, sweaty work, had a major disagreement on the deck board alignment.  Fortunately, soon thereafter it started to rain (as forecast) which dampened down the fires somewhat.  With palatable relief for all parties, we moved on to my top priority rainy day project: spraying the Bora Care insecticide onto the interior woodwork of the shed.  Used up a gallon and a half of the Bora Care (mixed 1 part insecticide to 4 parts water) on the oak beams, joists, and ceiling in the shed lower level and the floor, wall sheathing, and studs up to the wall top plates in the shed upper level.  Having ignored the protective equipment warnings on the product label (basically you’re supposed to be garbed like a Muslim woman in full abaya), one wonders what kind of interesting cancer will ensue from getting Bora Care all over oneself during the spraying process.  With that in mind, the sprayer and I took a long hot shower together as soon as the job was done.  So romantic!  Perry stopped by in the midst of all the fun to return our carpet shampooer.  He tactfully didn’t say anything about the walkway deck board curves.

14 July 2012

Worked all morning and the early afternoon on the walkway, extending it southward a few more feet.  Marty came up mid-morning with a package from the H. D. Hudson Manufacturing Company containing a new trigger valve assembly for my defective pump sprayer.  Knocked off extra early to shovel out Delores and prepare chicken shish kabobs for Marty & Merry.  After an early dinner, the four of us ventured forth to the Dorset Playhouse where Kate Middleton was starring in Boeing Boeing, a comedy set in 1950’s Paris featuring a bon vivant who is engaged simultaneously to three flight attendants… until they all show up at his apartment at the same time.  Kate played the Italian fiancée, and you would have sworn she was born and raised in Italy, with English as her second language.  An altogether enjoyable evening.

13 July 2012

 
You know it’s going to be “that kind of day” when, first thing in the morning, you spend a half-hour crafting a beautiful railing piece and then not only cut the 45° bevel (where the pieces join together) the wrong way, but start the screws along the top edge instead of where they belong along the bottom edge.  After creating and installing a second beautiful railing piece (bevel cut the right way; screws where they belong), dug the holes for two more in-ground posts in record time while Chree continued installing 3′ deck boards.  Ran out of DeWalt 18v battery juice about 11:30.  As a functioning drill driver is essential to walkway construction, spent the next hour manufacturing a ramp for loading the new generator into the RV generator compartment or the bed of the Ranger, as needed.  After lunch, converted the Ranger into a portable electrical generation station, then carefully installed the next set of stringers 2½″ too high ‘cause some idiot moved the string line in order to install the first toe cap board… and forgot to move the line back onto its mark.  While fixing that little faux pas the DeWalt drill driver started to smoke.  Not generally a sign of good health, what with the cancer scare and all. Chree says there’s a strong possibility there will be a new drill driver, or at least two new batteries, in my near future.  As the temperature this afternoon was in the 90’s, knocked off work early and all four of us went for a refreshing swim.

12 July 2012

Installed the fourth set of in-ground posts, associated stringers, and railing post while Chree started screwing 5/4x6x3′ deck boards in place.  After lunch, while she made an emergency run to the Hannaford’s in Brandon (just where do all those Honey Roasted Peanuts and Ben & Jerry’s go????), I put on the first couple of pieces of railing cap (a horizontal 2x4 that lies atop the railing posts), the first piece of railing (a 2x4 on edge with rounded top that attaches to the railing cap), and the first piece of toe cap (a vertical 2x2½″ board that runs along the top of the deck boards and is attached to the railing posts).  Larder replenished, together we installed the next couple of walkway lights.  This time they all worked when tested, including the bulb that gave me heart failure yesterday.  When it was well and truly dark (long after my bedtime), we ooohed and ahhhed at the well-illuminated walkway.  (The info sign in the South Burlington Lowe’s Electrical Department said 12 volt 7 watt lights spaced 12 feet apart would provide adequate path illumination.  They were right!)

11 July 2012

 
While Chree attended to another week’s worth of filthy clothes, I finished digging the trench for the low voltage wire run from the electric panel to the start of the wooden walkway.  Both of those chores took all morning.  After lunch we salvaged the switch for the dock light and the “weather-tight” junction box from down at the dock.  Turns out that junction box weren’t as weather-tight as advertized, as it and the switch were quite corroded.  Fortunately, there was another weather-tight junction box with a GFI receptacle on the same post.  That box was in okay shape, so I dead-shorted the wires that energized the receptacle and liberated the box.  We’d already determined that the dock receptacles were fed by circuit breaker #27 in Kate & Dan’s electrical panel… and that nothing else was connected to that breaker.  (A dead-short is created when you twist the hot, common, and ground wires together, so if someone turns on the breaker for that circuit, it will immediately trip due to the dead-short, i.e., that line can never be energized inadvertently.)  Unfortunately, there are other receptacles and a garbage disposal connected to the circuit (breaker #17) that energized the dock light, so those lines were just capped in place, pending further machinations of an electrical nature.  After raiding the dock for things electrical, Chree and I installed ½″ PVC conduit from our electrical panel to the head of the walkway, feeding 12-2 low voltage wire through the plastic pipe as we went.  I elected NOT to glue the conduit joints, as we may have to pull that run out and reroute it when we build the house.  While Chree back-filled the trench, I hooked up the 120v / 12v transformer, a new on/off switch in the salvaged weather-tight junction box, and the first low voltage light.  Chree did the honors and threw the switch for the first time… and the light did NOT come on!  Bother!!!!  (…and why are you not surprised????)  Chree insisted that I check the bulb before tearing anything apart.  Smart lady!  Ending the day on a positive note (for a change!) we moved on to a Porterhouse steak on the campfire accompanied by garlic mashed and a LARGE G&T… which certainly hit the spot!  With all the quinine I’ve been drinking lately, I should be well and truly immune to malaria by now.

10 July 2012

With pickax and shovel, dug about 30 feet (out of the 70 total) of the six inch deep trench in which the low voltage electric line will run (inside ½″ PVC Schedule 40 conduit) from the power panel to the start of the wooden walkway.  Rocks and roots in profusion, the other story of my life!  Chree installed the first few lengths of longitudinals, at which point we discovered that the RTB22 connectors were horribly out of position on the stringers.  I’d blame Shlomo, except I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know how to use a tape measure.  Apparently neither do I!  Problem corrected, was time to run errands in Middlebury (water from Lynne & Perry’s, more construction “stuff” from Goodro’s and Martin’s, Ben & Jerry’s and other victuals from Hannafords) plus attend a Festival on the Green performance by Waldo & Woodhead – Masters of Mayhem.  Waldo was a pretty decent juggler.  Woodhead’s slapstick certainly appealed to the five- and six-year olds in the audience.  Altogether a moderately enjoyable hour NOT spent banging a pickax against rocks and roots.

9 July 2012

Awoke at the usual hour to discover that Shlomo, normally perfectly house-broken, had had a brown and stinky “accident” on the main cabin rug.  Bad doggie!!!!  However, judging by the number of trips to the woods that he made today, either somebody thought it would be "cute" to slip Shlomo some people food at the picnic or he found something yummy down by the lake yesterday.  Do they make Alka Seltzer for dogs?  Tammy Walsh showed up with her backhoe at the stoke of 7, as promised, and got right to work widening and deepening the Galliard Cut, aka the top section of the wooden walkway path.  She moved, in an hour and a half, twice as much dirt and rocks as Chree and I had pick axed and shoveled in a week of grueling effort.  After Tammy left we spent an hour trimming roots and generally smoothing out the pathway.  Then we finished taking apart a few pieces of the old stairway where nails had to be cut (vice pulled) in order to liberate 4x4 posts that we plan to reuse.  Just before and after lunch, Chree cut 4x4’s into railing posts while I used a router to cut a lap joint into the ends 2x4 walkway longitudinals.  The adjustable dado blade for the radial arm saw that would have made creating those joints much easier is, of course, in Virginia.  Story of my life!!!!  We installed three railing posts and the RTB22 connectors that will secure the longitudinals to the first three sets of walkway stringers.  After nearly a week of unreturned phone calls, finally got hold of the technical service representative at the company who provides warranty service for my new Lifan Energy Storm 3600 generator.  He explained why my circuit tester is showing an open ground when, in fact, the generator is grounded and working perfectly.  Cross one major stress inducer off the list!  Chree made a fantastic garbage soup for dinner from all the leftovers we have accumulated in the last week plus 2/3 of a bottle of Chrysalis 2005 Norton Estate Bottled that was somewhat past its prime.  Then we attended the annual meeting of the Lake Dunmore / Fern Lake Association, sitting in the back row so we could escape early when the presentations got too boring.

8 July 2012

 

 

Alex and I spent the morning doing manly things with chainsaw and splitting maul, quadrupling my supply of ready-to-use campfire wood, while Chree and Katy did domestic chores and spent some quality time on the dock with the dogs.  Lynne, Alverta, Frank, Fran, Anne, Charlie (one of Chree’s brothers), Danielle (Charlie’s wife), Alyssa (their daughter), and Perry arrived somewhat after noon for canoeing, swimming, and a picnic.  Perry brought over his propane grill and made the most incredible Portobello mushrooms with roasted bell peppers and a raspberry reduction and cheddar cheese and arugula and watermelon and…  I’ve eaten in many a four star restaurant and have rarely had anything so fabulous.  After our guests departed, Chree and I went for a canoe around the lake, which is known for its calm waters.  Not today!  There were actual whitecaps as we battled the wind back up the lake (after enjoying a leisurely trip downwind on the outbound leg).  Good exercise and a great way to burn off the surfeit of calories consumed during the picnic.

7 July 2012

Drove down to sister-in-law Anne Swanson’s house in Charlestown, NH for the annual Tarrio Family reunion and picnic.  Met Alex and Katy there, who then returned with us to Fern Lake for Peeps roasted over the open fire and tales of their recent trip to Tanzania.

6 July 2012

Woke up this morning to find a flat left rear tire on the Ranger… again!  Spent the balance of the morning straightening out and cleaning up the mess in the shed caused by our aborted Bora Care treatment efforts the other day.  Spotted Tammy Walsh down at the Lapidus’ doing her lawn care magic, so went down to inquire whether she could spare us an hour of backhoe time… something Chree has been urging (sic) me to do ever since we started excavating for the walkway with pickax and shovel.  Tammy agreed to come over first thing Monday morning.  Took the Ranger back to Brandon at noon-thirty where it took Mike and me about forever to find a teensy pinhole leak where the tread and sidewall meet on the forever-going-flat tire.  The fix took no time at all.  Returned to Fern Lake, Chree and I took apart the fire pit (most of the sidewall stones had cracked / broken apart over the past few years) and rebuilt it with fresh stones (of which we have an inexhaustible supply).  Then we did a desperately needed spring cleaning on our campfire table and chairs.  After that I schlepped three half-wheelbarrow loads of leftover wet (and consequently very heavy) masonry sand down to the waterfront.  Somehow ended up in the lake after delivering the last load, so swam across and back, returning just in time to shower and change for dinner at the Lapidus’.  Tammy and Fran attended as well.  Fabulous food (as always), good wine, and great friends… what more could you want?

5 July 2012

Took the Ranger back to McDonough’s in Brandon where Mike and $20 quickly repaired the rough spot on the wheel rim that was causing the slow leak.  Then Chree and I continued our battle with the wood walkway excavation and building, getting the second and third set of in-ground posts and stringers done.  Found the missing 4x4 post… if it’d been a snake we both would have been fatally bitten.  Male pattern blindness I certainly understand; why Chree didn’t see the post (in plain sight) is a mystery.  Cocktail party and light dinner over at Mark & Karen Evans (they have a house diagonally across the lake that they use for vacations and weekend getaways from Philadelphia) where we met many of the folks who live or have camps along the west shore.  A delightful evening, made even more fun by using Hopea Kanootti for the commute.

4 July 2012

Figured a showery morning was a good time to take the Ranger into Brandon to get the slow leak in left rear tire repaired.  Unfortunately (or, if you prefer, in keeping with my ongoing string of luck), the leak is at the seam between the tire sidewall and the rim… and the guy who can deal with that was off for the holiday.  Of course!  So I decided to fill out the warranty card and get the new generator fired up.  One of the required bits of info for the warranty registration is the generator serial number… which is NOT to be found anywhere on the generator.  Hmmm…  Filled the petrol tank with petrol, the oil reservoir with oil (instruction manual says to use 10W30, sticker on the generator says to use 15W40… uh, huh), connected the battery, turned the switch and…  WRONG!  The generator started right up.  However, this being a 120v system, you have to physically ground the generator to Mother Earth if you want the things plugged into the generator to have grounding protection.  Fashioned a grounding rod out of rebar and attached it to the generator with 12AWG wire, even green in color.  Being the anal person that I am, used my circuit tester to ensure that all was wired correctly.  Open ground, said the tester.  So spent an hour verifying that my grounding rod and wire were working perfectly fine and the fault is in the generator itself.  Bah, humbug!!!!  Moved on to overcooking some country-style ribs on the campfire so the Marty & Merry could get good exercise with their jaw muscles when they came for a mid-afternoon lunch / dinner.  At least the pork wasn’t raw this time…  Completely stuffed and afloat on a bottle of Lambrusco, Chree and I then went to work on the wood walkway.  First thing we needed was the 4x4 post we had drilled for the rock pin the other day.  We both knew right where we’d left it.  Not there!  And not only not there, but absolutely nowhere to be found.  Shlomo?  Ghosts?  Someone who has a wood post fetish?  By dark we’d put in the first (and most critical in terms of placement) set of posts and their cross stingers, had made some progress on the second set of posts, and were in danger of never speaking to one another again.  Good time to call it quits!

3 July 2012

A PERFECT day for working outside and getting LOTS of things done.  So what did we accomplish?  Absolutely NOTHING!!!!  Things started great: awoke at 5:45, got up, fed the dogs, and started the coffee brewing.  Went back to bed to listen to the NOAA weather radio forecasts… and next thing we knew it was 8 o’clock.  Ooops!  After breakfast (boy, was that coffee STRONG!) Chree and I went to Lynne & Perry’s for 10 gallons of drinking water and then into Middlebury in search of five pounds of 1¼″ star-drive deck screws, a pump sprayer, and a ½″ drill bit that would work in granite.  Two out of three ain’t bad!  Got back to Fern Lake at 11 and decided to get the first two in-ground posts in place.  The 60d “rock pin” that I glued into place yesterday pulled right out as soon as we tried to put the post on it.  @#$!%!!!, or words to that effect!  So drilled the hole another ⅛″ deeper (which took a half hour, ‘cause granite-eating drill bits that will work with my hammer-drill apparently don’t exist) and stuck a 3″ piece of ½″ rebar in with some more epoxy… which takes 24 hours to cure.  Thus ended working on the walkway for the day.  After a late lunch, we figured to apply the Bora Care to the shed, using our just-acquired Hudson model 60181 multi-purpose sprayer.  While Chree moved all the “stuff” in the shed upper level away from two of the walls, I attempted to treat the oak beams in the shed lower level.  The $#@!&! sprayer wouldn’t work!  Nice spray for ½ second, a dribble, nothing for a few seconds, randomize the pattern and repeat.  So Chree read the directions (it’s nice having a woman around!) and we troubleshot the problem… to no avail, although we did isolate the blockage to the trigger mechanism assembly.  Called the H. D. Hudson Company (1-800-9-SPRAYER) who promised to send a new trigger assembly poste haste.  Thus ended treating the shed for wood boring insects for the day.  Next tried to glue a mirror to the shed lower level ceiling over the dehumidifier, so that I can see the control displays, even if upside down and backwards.  I’m sure the mirror will fall right off and break (making official my seven years of bad luck!) as soon as the brace holding it in place is removed tomorrow.  To make matters worse, used up the last of the Beefeaters while soothing our sorrows this evening.

2 July 2012

Goodro Lumber’s truck showed up at 8 o’clock with $2,000 worth of pressure treated lumber and Simpson Strongtie RTB22 and SD10112 hardware.  While Chree removed 200 stickers stapled to the end of each pressure treated board, I finished cutting the roots of the hemlock (may it rest in peace forevermore) and excavating the first 44 feet of the wood walkway path.  Fingers crossed that none of the other 400 feet of pathway will need excavating.  While getting my morning workout with pickax and shovel, got to thinking (ALWAYS a dangerous thing!) about how I had calculated the walkway slope and how we were actually measuring said slope.  Without getting too technical, suffice it to say that the slope calculation was based on 450 feet of run and 56 feet of elevation change (the opposite and adjacent sides of a right triangle for you visual learners), whereas we were actually measuring the hypotenuse of that triangle.  Would that, I wondered, make a significant difference in where the walkway ended up in terms of elevation when we got down to the lake?  Over lunch, Chree and I put our few remaining functioning neurons to work on that question.  After much noodling, we determined that, yes, figuring the slope one way and measuring it a different way would make a difference of over 6 feet in elevation at the bottom of the path.  Merde, alors!  So, after lunch, we carefully measured the pathway length (434 feet minus a 14 foot gap where the path will run level crossing the “driveway” into the back of the house) and accurately surveyed the elevation change from the house site down to the walkway terminus at the waterfront (still 56 feet).  Doing the math, that means the walkway slope needs to be 420/ 56 = 1:7.5, not the 1:8 that we were planning to build.  Double merde with fudge on top!  Oh, well, better to catch that faux pas now than when we got to the bottom of the hill.  We started digging the first four (of well over 100) 12″ deep holes into which in-ground posts and footers will go.  The very first hole ended up on top of an enormous granite rock 8″ below the pathway grade level.  Of course!!!!  Tried moving said rock… couldn’t even find three of the edges.  Having anticipated this situation (he’s just such a clever lad!), just not with the very first hole, we got out the diamond-tipped Skilsaw and cold chisels and quickly created a level area 3½″ square in the rock.  Then I took my hammer-drill with a ½″ carbide-tipped masonry bit and attempted to bore a 1″ deep hole in the center of said level area.  The rock won… and we’ll be going shopping for a diamond-tipped ½″ drill bit tomorrow.  After much effort, I did manage to create a ⅜″ depression in the rock, into which went the head of a 60d galvanized nail and some 150,000 psi epoxy glue.  The nail, glued into the rock, will pin the in-ground post in place… so long as the rock never moves.  And speaking of in-ground posts.  Chree took the tarp off our stash of used but good 4x4 posts this afternoon and discovered a HUGE colony of carpenter ants busily building their version of the Taj Mahal.  Their nefarious plans exposed, the ants gathered up their thousands of eggs and went elsewhere.  Kate came over for dinner (burgers-on-the-campfire with other delicious accoutrements, not all of which were in liquid form).  First time she and Chree have had a chance to really chat.  A thoroughly enjoyable evening from all perspectives!

1 July 2012

 
Chree and I spent the day learning, the back-breaking way, why using a backhoe to excavate Leicester “soil” is way easier than using a pickax and shovel.  And then we came to the roots of a very nice hemlock situated a few feet west of the wooden walkway path.  Chree wanted to save the roots… and thereby not damage the tree.  I didn’t want a tripping hazard in the middle of the walkway.  Much “discussion” ensued, at the end of which Mr. Jonsered was called into action in exchange for the usual marital penalty.  While I desecrated the hemlock, Chree treated the footers we cut the other day with Thompson’s Water Seal.  The waterproofing tray (that I so carefully built last winter for that very purpose) leaked like a sieve… so now we won’t have to worry about water getting onto the shed’s Advantech flooring (which was already guaranteed against water damage for 50 years).  By the end of the day we were both pretty well whipped…  and, after a therapeutic dose of Vitamin I with a LARGE G&T, 8 o’clock saw me well and truly asleep... and even in my own bed.