28 February 2014

Sean arrived again at 0800 to continue our house specifications review.  More really fruitful discussions.  After Perry demonstrated (once again) his culinary skills (five-star tuna melt sandwiches for lunch), Sean and I went up to Vergennes to meet with Dennis Senesac, Project Manager at Ryan Plumbing and Heating and a fount of knowledge about all things plumbing and HVAC related.  After lengthy discussion, Dennis recommended (and Sean eventually concurred) that we should stay with a forced hot / cold air HVAC system powered by the geothermal energy recovery system we want to install.  The bad news: such a system may require drilling up to 1,000 vertical feet of wells at mega-bucks per foot.  Maybe we can name one well “Tasi”, another one “Alex”, and the third one “Katy”, then wish the kids a happy inheritance.  Took Lynne and Perry out for dinner and a surfeit of calories at the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury.

27 February 2014

Over to Fern Lake late morning to get some measurements of the woodshed siding trim to add to the house specifications.  Again stopped down to see Marty & Merry, but no signs of life in their house.  Then up to Pete’s RV in South Burlington where, miracle of miracles, the correct generator battery was awaiting collection, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Devra Metevier.  Visited and had lunch with Alverta at her apartment in Shelburne, then headed back to Salisbury for more fattening-up á la chez Pirkkanen.

26 February 2014

Sean LaFlam (owner of Goose Creek Builders, our general contractor) arrived at 0800 to begin going over the details of what we think we want in building our house. A great meeting, with Sean and Perry offering innumerable suggestions about how to make things better. Sean recommended strongly that we consider an in-floor radiant heating system throughout the house vice the forced hot air and air conditioning system that we had been planning. Treated Sean and Perry to lunch at Cattails Restaurant in Brandon.  Lynne & Perry stuffed me to the gills with more delicious victuals that evening.

25 February 2014

Left Springfield at the crack of dawn and was just congratulating myself on making excellent time to Philadelphia (and grooving away to the 70’s on 7) when I suddenly found myself no longer on I-95 but in downtown Philly.  Ooops!  Negotiated the maze of one-way streets thereabouts (all of which seemed to be going the wrong way) and returned to the interstate.  Still made it to the Hannaford in Brandon (needed ice cream, of course!) in 8½ hours, close to record time.  Went from there up to Fern Lake, where I discovered that the garage door to the shed lower level was frozen to the ground. Took a lot longer than I had expected to gain entry… and wrenched my lower back in the process.  Made a few swaps (things no longer needed in Virginia this winter for things that should have been taken to Virginia last fall), stopped down to say hello to the Lapidii (no answer to my knock on their door), then headed for Lynne & Perry’s, where warm accommodations and an elegant repast awaited.