29 - 30 June 2013
Down to Old Saybrook,
CT for Chree’s Aunt Pat’s 90th birthday party and family
reunion. Four hours each way. In another example of perfect timing, Perry
called just as we were arriving at the party to request help in loading some
furniture into his truck… here in VT.
28 June 2013
Some rain last night and gusty winds at breakfast time, but nowhere near the monsoon that NOAA was bleating about. So Chree and I had a great workout this morning moving 3,850 pounds of hemlock boards into the woodshed and putting them into a neatly ricked stack. Well over half the boards are 12″ wide… and currently weigh a plump 35 pounds apiece! Calculated that the pile actually contains well over 850 board feet of lumber, which, by the time it finishes drying, will lose over 1,600 pounds of water. While it does so, the woodshed will be smelling absolutely heavenly! When all was done, Chree and I took the surveying gear down to the waterfront to stake the 6 foot riparian buffer that we want to leave between the lakeshore and the excavated area that the dock building will occupy. Then, while Chree was doing teacher summer homework at the Brandon Free Library after lunch, I used the backhoe to start leveling out the path that the electrical conduit will follow between the top and bottom of the walkway. Had to dig almost to China to get out two stumps that were in the way. When Chree returned, we tried to take the Ranger down my new “road” in order to pick up brush. (At this point, read the blog for 4 August 2012, the tale of last time we tried to take the Ranger down this way to pick up brush.) You guessed it! At almost the same spot that the Ranger got hung up on a rock last year, we (I have a mouse in my pocket) hung it up on another rock this afternoon. Unlike last time, however, now we have a tractor. Hooked a logging chain to the towing ball on the stern of the Ranger, ran the other end to the backhoe, gave a hydraulically-assisted gentle pull, and presto change-o, the Ranger was free of its precarious perch. No harm, no foul!
27 June 2013
Toby Rheaume called at 7:30 to say he was on his way over to pick up the hemlock saw logs… just about the time I realized that the heaviest log (that would have to be loaded first into his dump trailer) was buried on the bottom of the stack. Got the stack resorted just as he arrived. Loading the logs was not without its moments… the Kubota was being asked to operate at the very limits of its (and its operator’s) capabilities. After Toby headed out, Chree and I set to work clearing out one side of the woodshed to create space for ricking the hemlock for drying. Then we cleaned up the limbs from the red oak and spruce felled yesterday and bucked the trunks into 8-foot lengths. The unsold Ranger is proving to be a blessing in disguise… taking abuse that otherwise would cause rapid depreciation in the Tacoma’s value. The burn pile is, once again, huge… with more brush to be added before ignition and lift-off. That done, we sorted through the dead ¾″ plywood previously used for cement forms until we found enough “okay” pieces that could be sawed into ricks for the hemlock. Rick sawing accomplished, was doing a few small chores right after lunch when Toby returned with 700+ board feet of freshly sawn hemlock. Had him dump his load beside the
26 June 2013
In between periods of rain this morning we got the rest of the two hemlocks bucked into lengths for sawing, then skidded out of the woods. Have ended up with nine saw logs ranging in diameter from 9 to 19 inches, which should produce 620 board feet of lumber… just slightly less than I figure we’ll need for interior paneling in the waterfront building. Then we took down a 9″ spruce that would have shaded the Sun Room… and was in the way of the trench that needs to be dug for an electrical line running from one end of the walkway to the other. Since we still have Toby’s snatch block and steel cable, used them to take down a 12″ red oak that was, again, right next to where the Sun Room will be and which had a severe lean towards the walkway. As before, Chree did a great job pulling with the Kubota, causing the oak to land right where we wanted it. That tree down, the rain started again in earnest, so we changed clothes and spent a delightful afternoon and some money at the Marble Museum (and Gift Shop) in Proctor. Lake water temperature is 76°.
25 June 2013
Tackled the two big
hemlocks next to the woodshed today. First
one lost its top last winter and the other died this summer. First tree was 26″ thru the butt, which is a
bit of a challenge for a chainsaw with a 16″ bar. Down and bucked, that tree created three 8′6″
logs with 345 board feet of lumber in them… and a really nice chopping block
for over by the campfire. I calculated
the weight of the butt end log as 840 pounds, which the Kubota just barely lifted
off the ground. Then came the real
challenge. Used our 28′ aluminum
extension ladder to hook Toby Rheaume’s steel cable high up in the second tree. Chree didn’t get a picture of that evolution
‘cause the camera was in the RV and she wanted to stay close by in case she had
to call 9∙1∙1. Led the other end of the
cable through Toby’s snatch block (chained to the base of a sturdy beech tree) thence
to the rear end of the Kubota. The concept
was that, as I finished cutting the tree, Chree would pull it down with the
tractor in the direction we wanted it to go.
Only two small problems: Chree had never done such a maneuver before and
she couldn’t see me from where the tractor was positioned for the pull. Can you spell “recipe for disaster”? Next question: Do you know what a “sound
shot” is in deer hunting? Same concept:
when Chree heard me rev up the chainsaw to start the final cut, away she went
on her steed of orange. The end
result? The tree came down within an
inch of where we wanted it, with minimal damage to the surrounding flora and no
damage to the fauna (we being counted among the latter). Would have had that tree pulled out and
bucked this afternoon but we had to make a full-speed run over the Lynne &
Perry’s after lunch for our laundry, arriving (this time) five minutes before
the thunderstorm… which then persisted on hanging around for the rest of day.
24 June 2013
Over to Lynne &
Perry’s first thing in the morning to get drinking water and do a couple of laundry
loads, which we hung out to dry while we went up to Shelburne to take Alverta
to lunch. Raced through a thunderstorm on the way back south and got back to
the laundry… five minutes too late.
Looks like it’ll get a double rinse this afternoon. Did get back to Fern Lake in time to close up
the RV before the storm hit there.
23 June 2013
While Chree was off
getting more Gifford’s at the Middlebury Hannaford, I put the cut off live
wires from Kate’s circuit breakers 17 & 27 into a weather-tight electrical
box, covered with the pressure treated wood box made earlier, and buried so
that the top of box is just at the earth’s surface. Then I made a little bridge to fill the gap
between the wooden walkway and the deck where the dock shack used to be. Then we cut up and hauled away the last bit
of the former stairway, supervised again by the resident garter snake. After lunch I changed out the backhoe and
front bucket for the three point log skidding hitch and pallet forks. While Chree was bringing the tractor down to
the waterfront, I cut off an 8” spruce that I needed to drop where the dock
shack used to be in order to miss a 4” maple that we wanted to keep. As the spruce went down it grabbed the maple
anyway, which I didn’t see happening as I was admiring the precision with which
I had aimed the spruce. The maple knocked
me to the ground just in time for the butt end of the spruce to hit me in the
chest. Ouch! By the time Chree
arrived I was back upright, if a tad the worse for wear. Fifteen minutes later, after I had limbed,
bucked, and hooked up the trees for skidding, I realized that I was no longer
wearing my glasses. We looked high and
low and couldn’t find them, so hauled everything away in advance of an
approaching thunderstorm. After all was
secured for rain, I went back down the hill to continue searching. Finally found the glasses when I stepped on
them. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we couldn’t find them
because they had been driven into the ground when the tractor backed up over
them. Fortunately, some adroit use of
needle nose pliers, brute strength, and a little duct tape soon had them back
to wearable. After that, Chree made me
lie in bed and drink a concoction of quinine water, lime juice, and distilled
juniper berries to ease the pain. She
said I was acting like someone with a head injury…
22 June 2013
Toby Rheaume stopped by just before first thing in the morning to give me his expertise about getting down the large hemlock that has died right next to the Taj Mahal. He is lending me his snatch block and spare steel cable so that I can safely pull it down with the Kubota in a direction that it wouldn’t want to go given its natural inclination (that’s logger-speak for “the tree is leaning the wrong way”). The old dock shack is no more. Chree and I took apart the framing, one wall at a time, and had all the pieces in the Ranger by 3 o’clock. (Just to assuage the concerns of you environmentalists out there: the materials that once constituted the old dock shack will be reincarnated next summer as a waterfront woodshed.) A three-foot long garter snake kept us company for most of the day. Sure hope he or she likes ants and ant eggs, ‘cause we sure found zillions of them as the dock shack came apart. Then, having a couple of work hours left ‘till swim time, we proceeded with removing the last remnant of the stairs that once came down to the waterfront from the Glassner’s (now Kate’s) house. Chree suggested that, instead of taking them apart one board at a time like I’d spent days doing with the rest of the stairs, we cut them apart into sections with the Sawzall. BRILLIANT!!!! Got ¾ of that project done before it was time open the Merlot and sear some cow over the cook fire.
21 June 2013
Chree and I took Hopea Kanootti for a leisurely paddle around the lake first thing in the morning. Then, working together as a well lubricated team (Cabin Fever for breakfast????), we got all the battens and 1 x 10 boards off the walls of the dock shack. We went through 72 ounces of liquid refreshment over the course of the day… and it wasn’t that hot out. Found a huge carpenter ant nest (and a corner post that was pretty much eaten away). Also found several places where mice had made their toilet over many decades. If you want a real olfactory treat, try copious quantities of stale mouse urine well heated in the sun… much worse than a wet dog who has found something dead to roll in (that would be you, Shlomo)!
20 June 2013
Chree’s first experience operating a backhoe was to move the stump (the one that we couldn’t drag up the hill with the tractor the other day) up to Kate’s driveway, where we then could drag it over to the burn pile. The expression on her face the first time Chree got the stump to go just where she wanted it using the backhoe was worth way more than the price of the tractor! After that mission was successfully accomplished, we took the backhoe down to the waterfront. While I carved a path across the hillside in order to move the boulder leaning up against the dock shack (see the blog posting for 4 September 2009) Chree made an emergency run to both the Middlebury and Brandon Hannaford for Cabin Fever and Gifford’s ice cream. Unfortunately the bag holding the Cabin Fever tore, causing the caps on both bottles to break. Fortunately Chree didn’t get pulled over, as the Tacoma no longer has that “new car” smell, if you know what I mean. After
19 June 2013
One match and 12 hours later the brush / stump pile is pretty much gone but still smoldering away. Took down five of the eight trees that needed to be removed to make way for the waterfront construction project. (The other three are pointed right at the existing dock shack… so the shack will have to be removed before those trees come down.) Chree got her fill of being a skidder / forklift operator and fire tender. The first tree I cut today (a 12″ butt diameter, 60 foot tall spruce) was entwined with its next door neighbor and just wouldn’t come down. After trying every relatively safe gambit in my loggers’ bag of tricks, finally had to pull that tree down with the tractor. Chree didn’t watch. Instead I think she called the life insurance company to make sure we were fully paid up. Just before swim call, took off the 3-point log skidding rig and put the backhoe back on the tractor. Lesson learned: leave the backhoe in position ready to be reattached rather than follow the Kubota lawyer’s instructions to lower the backhoe all the way to the ground after detaching it from the tractor. NO MOSQUITOES ALL DAY (until dusk).
18 June 2013
In between getting soaked by passing rain showers, Chree used the tractor to skid mucho brush from down by the lower end of the walkway up to the burn pile. She also got quite a bit of experience as a forklift operator moving 8′ firewood logs up to the to-be-cut-and-split-sometime-in-the-indefinite-future piles. After lunch she put on a dry set of clothes and a full set of rain gear… which caused the sun to come out. By early quitting time the burn pile was getting precariously large, so called Ricky Nicklaw, the Leicester Fire Warden, and got permission for pyromania tomorrow. His comment, “With all the rain we’ve had, good luck getting your brush to burn!” Went down to Marty & Merry’s for hors d’oeuvres, plentiful wine, a pitch by the Lake Dunmore / Fern Lake Association (LDFLA) for a contribution to their ongoing capital fund campaign, and a chance to chat with many members of the LDFLA board of directors.
17 June 2013
Old Saybrook to
Leicester in 4½ hours, arriving Fern Lake just at noon. After unpacking the
truck and stowing everything away, had to wait out a brief thunderstorm before
touring the property. Last time Chree
was here, only the first section of the walkway had been completed. Tour done, we exchanged the front bucket for
the pallet forks and the backhoe for the 3-point log skidding rig. Then Chree spent an hour getting used to
operating the Kubota. She moved a pile
of brush over to the burn site and tried to drag a large stump to the same
destination. After she got stuck, I
showed her that it wasn’t operator inexperience, the Kubota just isn’t strong
enough to do what was wanted, i.e., I got stuck, too. Perry stopped by with Lizzie to say hi (and
so the dogs could get acquainted) just as we were getting the campfire going to
cook dinner.
14 June 2013
Art Tournet, owner of
Vermont Pest Control, caused hate and discontent among the carpenter ants ingesting
the woodshed beams.
8 June 2013
Left Fern Lake shortly
after the crack of dawn and was making excellent time back to Virginia until I
got to Fort Meade, MD. Took two hours
from there to Springfield… normally a 40 minute trip… due to a tree that fell
over (on a sunny, calm day) and blocked the southbound highway… something the
traffic reports didn’t mention until much, much too late. I DEFINITELY
WILL NOT miss the Washington traffic after we move to Vermont!!!!
7 June 2013
As forecast, a dreary rainy day, perfect for doing inside chores. Took Dolores over to Kampersville for her first constitutional of the season. Price still $15. Built a sturdy wooden box out of scrap PT to go over the scrap (‘cause I found out it was too small for the walkway connections after I had drilled it full of holes) weather-tight electrical box that will hold the ends of the two live wires coming down the hill from Kate Middleton’s house. Made some minor alterations to the carrying case for my dead DeWalt drill/driver (Perry’s idea) so that it would accommodate my new Makita impact driver and hammer drill / driver plus three batteries. The carrying case that the Makitas came in is literally twice the size of the DeWalt case. Drilled holes in and attached the fittings to the gigunda electrical connection box that will be installed at the waterfront end of the walkway. Built (again out of scrap PT) and installed a camera platform down at the waterfront from which to record the construction activities that will take place there over the next year. Packed the Tacoma and cleaned Dolores, ready for a quick getaway in the morning. Another delightful dinner at Marty & Merry’s to finish off a fairly productive day.
6 June 2013
On a positive note:
got the railings put on the last two sections of the walkway and the forecast
rain held off until evening. On another
note: had a real bad case of the dropsies all day, took me three tries and an
hour and a half before I finally figured out the complex cut where the railing
goes around the 20° bend, and, when I called him at 4:30 to find out why he
hadn’t come to deal with the shed carpenter ant issue, Art Tournet from Vermont
Pest Control said he had stopped by twice but there was nobody around. If he’d given a shout… And, as a direct consequence of that last
bit, ran out of whiskey.
5 June 2013
A beautiful day for
working: partly cloudy, high around 70, and no flying insects. Put the railing caps and mid-span posts on
the last two sections of walkway, so now the OHSA inspector is a happy
person. Installed the last three (of 39
total) low voltage lights. Got four
pieces of the missing railing put on before Blue Moon time.
4 June 2013
Did odd jobs at Fern
Lake until mid-morning, including calling Vermont Pest Control because there is
another big pile of “sawdust” on the shed footer right under one of the beams…
a beam that has been treated twice with Bora Care. From the size of the “dust”, looks like the
carpenter ants are using a chainsaw instead of their teeth... I wish the Jonsered could make chips that
big. Then went over to Lynne &
Perry’s to do a load of laundry (so that there will be clean sheets on the bed
when Chree arrives) and to help Perry with some transportation logistics. Put the Storm King generator into the bucket
of the Kubota and easily moved it down to the waterfront in anticipation of
using the Sawzall during demolition of the existing dock building in a couple
of weeks.
3 June 2013
Sing Halleluiah, praise all the Saints, mark this momentous occasion on your calendar, and somebody pour me a single malt: at precisely 1414 (or 2:14 pm for those of you who don’t believe there are 24 hours in a day) the 137th (and FINAL) in-ground post was officially planted. You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to that blessed event! Somewhat over four hours later there was a 400′ 2″ constant slope, no steps, wooden walkway (with seven landings, three bends, and one bench seat) from the (future) house patio all the way down to the waterfront.
2 June 2013
Finished putting in
the in-ground posts for the 20° bend, put on the upper stringer, then
recognized that I had no idea where to set the lower stringer so that the deck
boards either side of the bend would line up.
So put the lower stringer roughly into place with clamps and doug the
holes for the next set of posts down the line, planted them, and put on their
stringers. Cut the four triangular
shaped deck boards that round the bend and found, when I temporarily put on the
longitudinals for the last stretch of walkway, that the lower stringer was (as
suspected) way out of position. Finally
figured out where it should be, screwed / bolted it into position, and called
it quits, ‘cause by this time it was raining pretty good. Found out when I went back up the hill that I
had forgotten to cover up the radial arm saw after last use. I’m sure (!!!!) it appreciated the bath…
1 June 2013
Went into Middlebury first thing (where does all
that ice cream go????) to not get the SD10112 screws (used to attach the RTB22
hardware that joins the stringers to the longitudinals) that I had special
ordered from Goodro and which, supposedly, had been delivered to said lumber
yard on Wednesday. No could find
anywhere. Then I didn’t get the 5″
galvanized lag screws at Aubuchon Hardware (had to settle for 4″), but did find
the last two galvanized 60d spikes needed to finish the walkway. Returned to Fern Lake mid-morning and started
putting in the three really tricky in-ground posts that form the 20° bend that
is needed just before the walkway reaches the waterfront. Two-thirds of the way through that chore an
intense thunderstorm rolled though, knocking out power for an hour or so. Seeing the storm coming, hit the switch to
retract Dolores’ main cabin door steps… you know, the ones I paid $600 to replace
not three years ago. They went in,
spastically, and then wouldn’t come back out.
Oh $%%#@!!!!!, said I. So, after
the storm passed, I put some concrete blocks in front of the door so that I
could clamber in and out of the RV with only moderate difficulty. Opened the door to exit awhile later and the
RV steps deployed… right into the concrete blocks, doing neither of them any
good whatsoever. Oh $%%#@!!!!!, I said,
diving out the door to throw the concrete blocks aside. Recipe for the perfect gin and tonic: after a
hot and humid, not very productive, and Dolores-is-giving-you-fits kind of day, put 4 ice cubes in
a large beer stein, squeeze in a quarter of a lime, add 10 oz. tonic water, and
fill up the glass with gin. Guaranteed
to slide down real easy.
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