First thing in the morning went up to Champlain Valley Equipment (CVE) in Middlebury and got the chainsaw out of bondage… replete with a new carburetor. Got back to Leicester and fired that sucker up. The tree that had nearly wrecked the RV rear-view mirror was soon dropped across the driveway… without hitting the RV. Then the saw stalled and wouldn’t restart. Fortunately, I’d parked the van on the other side of where the tree fell, so I could escape the trap. Saw in van, went back to CVE to see my (fast becoming) best friend Dave Bishop. Dave gave the saw one pull and it started right up, then try as he might, it refused to run any way but perfectly. Much chagrined, I went back to Leicester, tail between my legs. Saw started right up, so I quickly got the tree across the driveway cut into pieces. As soon as I started on the four trees blocking the RV parking spot, the saw stalled… exactly like it had done in the morning. With much exercise and many, many imprecations, I got it to run long enough to get three of the trees down and cut up. Then the saw absolutely quit, so, taking advantage of my steel-toed boots, I kicked it into the woods, got out my axe, and started work on dropping the last tree. While all this was going on, Alverta was doing yeoman’s work cleaning the cabinets in the RV. She took a walk down to the lake when the swearing got too bad towards the end, saying as she left, “You’re not going to get that tree down with an axe. Why don’t you call it a day?” By the time she got back, the tree was laying on the side of the driveway and the RV was parked in its proper spot, with the living room slide-out slid out. Boy is The Beast roomy in that configuration! A couple of glasses of Shelburne Vineyard’s Cayuga White later, called Chree to wish her a happy anniversary. Oooops! Wrong day!!!!
Repaired the main entry door that the previous owner had “fixed” the day I bought The Beast. His “repair” kept the travel safety latch on the door from engaging… something that definitely should be working properly if anyone is ever in the coach cabin while the RV is moving down the road. Cleaned the storage compartments under the RV. After yesterday I thought the interior of the coach was dirty. That was nothing compared to what I tackled today. Discovered two unpleasant surprises: not one, but three, leaks from the piping in the water tank compartment, only one of which I can reach… to get at the other two leaks looks like will require removing one of the two water tanks and a petite contortionist, and rusted out sheet metal in one compartment that was (note the past tense) part of the support for the generator exhaust pipes. Yet another repair job for Junction Auto… Caveat that emptor!!!! Also discovered Exhibit B in the sewage hose storage compartment. Again, a free night’s stay at Triangle Square Circle to the first contestant who can correctly identify what this is. A bottle of wine thrown in if you can tell me why this was in with the sewage hoses. Lynne brought Hopea Kanootti over this afternoon for its maiden voyage on Fern Lake. (Yes, that decrepit guy in the canoe is who you think it is.) We also found a gorgeous (and reportedly very rare hereabouts) Lady Slipper just downhill from where the patio will be. Then Perry joined us for a delightful spaghetti dinner featuring Bove’s roasted garlic sauce and lively conversation about small town development approval process issues with which Perry is currently contending. As you can see, we’re really roughing it here in the RV. When I think back to how my father lived for years in a tent and a pop-up camper trailer while building his cabin in Calais, I realize I’m not nearly as tough as I’d like to think I am.
Liam Powers and Gary Perkins installed the main electrical wire, plus conduits for cable TV and telephone service, in a trench expertly and quite quickly dug by Bob LaPorte (here extracting one of many Leicester "nuggets" found along the way) from the utility pole on the other side of the Glassner’s driveway to a rustic-Vermont termination pedestal they built a few feet south of the Triangle Square Circle driveway. Attached to the pedestal is the permanent electrical termination box for the house, including the electric meter, plus a temporary sub-panel to provide electrical service during construction. All went far too smoothly until Bob started digging the very shallow trench needed to run an electric wire over to where The Beast will be parked henceforth. He immediately hit a rock that was literally the size of an SUV, exactly where the water line from the well to the house was supposed to run. Try as Bob might, that rock weren’t a gonna move. The water line will have to go around the end of the rock… and the RV electric line went over the top. Bob also dug a huge pit in which the wood shed foundation is to be built. Again, all went far too smoothly until I asked him to just extend the hole another couple of feet towards the driveway. Lo and behold, Bob found the not-so-little sister of the rock he hit earlier. This rock he could move (he said it only weighed 3 or 4 tons), but try as he might, he couldn’t get it out of the hole. So he moved it to the end of the pit where I can build it into the retaining wall on that end of the shed. At least, that’s the plan… Late in the afternoon Perry Pirkkanen went with me to retrieve The Beast from Junction Auto. The repair bill was 40% lower than I was expecting! Included was a new $450 passenger side rearview mirror, two new coach batteries (the super large expensive size), and a Vermont inspection sticker. The return to Fern Lake went far too smoothly until I tried to back The Beast through the driveway S-turn into its parking spot. Almost took out the new mirror on a largish maple tree that is just a little too close to the driveway edge. Fortunately Cecile Todd (neighbor across the street) was following me down the drive and gave a yell in the nick of time. Unfortunately, try as I might, The Beast could not be maneuvered into its proper parking spot… five small trees which I wanted to keep will have to come out.