Mother's Day Progress on Baby's room

The electrical work is done so it is time for the sheet rock! This is real progress!

A corner and not a hole into the hall!

A hallway not a... well... progress!

The last gap to fill is the pocket door = no insulation!

My love SP has worked so hard! THANK YOU!

Making Baby's Room as big as it gets

Baby has been stuck in the smallest bedroom that isn't a bedroom for far too many of his ten years. After last springs house fire ruined our chances of getting the final construction finished, it is the push for this spring. SP worked very hard over vacation and got the bulk of the rough work done. When we originally made baby his room, from a nook in our room and the old laundry room, the walls went up with a lick and a promise that we might be back later to finish it. All the pipes and vents for the laundry were cut and capped and remained in place. This week, they were forced out of their comfort zone, out into the light of day, and put out of their misery. Thank you SP for all that you do.

In the beginning there was a snug little room with bamboo floors and gentle green walls.
Then the fun began.

This was the part I wanted to participate in but I was too busy cooking stock and canning in the kitchen, so I just ran up periodically to take pictures. 

The funny thing was finding that we had basically encapsulated an odd period of time, when we were battling a litter of flying squirrels in the attic. Those little rodents really liked to get in the dryer vent and thus into Baby's wall. When this particular wall was closed up, we left a loaded trap in it. SP tripped the trap after breaking down the wall.

Baby inspecting the progress.

Getting messy in there!

A quick glimpse at my good little elf SP. 

That's our new pocket door. I think we have added 1.5 feet to his room.

Looking chaotic

The good, the bad, and the down right ugly.

See ya Debris!

A closer look at the progress after Day one.

Day two SP attacked the tougher aspects of getting the wall taken apart.

Definitely progress!

Out the window, out of mind!

SP contemplating a huge problem.

Day three proved to be the worst and toughest... no need to glorify that until it is over and done with.

A lazy morning saved the day? Guest post by SP

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“Hey, where you going?” “I need to get started boiling sap.” “No! Snuggle me!” “But I really have to get started.” “Nooo. Snuggles.” she said emphatically.  Madz was right, snuggling sounded way better than going outside and starting work so I crawled back into bed and we fell back to sleep for a while. Upon waking we snuggled for a while more (we're really good at it) eventually we both decided it was probably time to get this sap boil started. So I got out of bed, dressed quickly, and headed downstairs.  I met Bruce in living room and we both observed it smelled little smoky. I sniffed over by the fireplace to check for a downdraft- nothing.  Upon opening the basement door I noticed smoke in the stairwell and assumed the woodstove it back drafted… Again. I headed grumpily down the stairs. When I flipped the light switch the basement lights didn't come on- that was the first clue that something was wrong. When I got to the bottom of the stairs I looked over at the woodstove but I was drawn to the glowing fire in the ceiling along the wall. Oh shit! There's a fire! I bolted up the stairs, told Bruce there was a fire, and tore out to the garage to fetch a fire extinguisher. I ran back down the basement stairs and emptied my fire extinguisher into the burning hole in the basement ceiling/1st floor. Not sure if the fire was out I dashed back upstairs to grab the kitchen fire extinguisher. Bruce met me with it in the living room.  Back to the basement only to realize that fire extinguisher does not work. At that point I pounded up the stairs all the way to the second floor, burst into our bedroom, and told Madz there was a fire, I needed to call 911 and she needed to get everyone out of the house.  Coming back downstairs I step out on the front porch, call 911 give them the details, and go back to the basement. There I discovered that the fire had rekindled so I ran out to the front yard,  grabbed a length of a garden hose, ran back to the basement, quickly attached it to the cold water tank and extinguished all the fire I could see. At that point the fire was out so I opened the bulkhead door and moved around some of the basement furniture to make access a little easier for the firemen and I carefully move the tables of Legos so they wouldn't get tipped over and the creations ruined. When I heard the sirens I went back upstairs and out on the front porch. I flagged down someone who looked like they were in charge and bade them,  “Come with me.”  I was concerned they might lead with the hose and knowing what a mess that could be, I took this firefighter to the basement and showed him where the fire had been. “Did you put it out?” he  asked? “Ya” I replied. “Good job! Now go get some fresh air.” I went up to living room and move that furniture around just like I'd done in the basement it was then that I noticed there was more fire burning in the wall to the left of the hearth. When I stepped out on the porch a small group of firemen were in a huddle discussing a plan, I got their attention I told him of the fire in the wall and said, there's some work for you guys to do too. At that point I went outside and hugged my wife and our friends, and milled around until the cleanup was over. 

*I know staying in the house and breathing all that smoke was not a smart decision.  I know that in a fire situation one is supposed to gather up the occupants, exit, and leave the work to the firefighters (I’m the son of a volunteer firefighter for gosh sakes.) but that knowledge not withstanding,  I could not bring myself to stand on the lawn while my house burned waiting for the fire department.

When Boiling feels like a well oiled machine

There has been so much progress in the last month.

It's hard to type this post retroactively, knowing that there's a major life changing event that has happened since. I almost have little to say about these photos since it seems so minor in comparison.

The vivid green emerging from the recovering moss.
There was a lot of beauty and color in the places I looked.

Look at all those hues of red!
I think the most amazing event of this boiling weekend was the rebirth of Junior our tractor. That is all thanks to Uncle Gerome, who fixed the Magneto and brought the spark back to Junior.
 





















SP was very happy to be skidding logs again. All is well in this world.

Perks of Being a Forester

SP travels around southern Maine for his job. Sometimes he is deep in the woods, other times he is walking with home owners, frequently he is insect bitten and in wetlands, but when he is really lucky he is on the coast.

This happened on Friday when he needed to schedule a site visit on the coast. It was also 9/11 which is his deceased Dad's birthday.




















I asked Shane what he wanted to do for his Dad's birthday. He didn't know, but as Friday came around he figured out what he wanted to do.

He wanted to dog for clams, so digging for clams is what he did.
SP was a happy man.
I like SP happy.

Firewood Season has opened

We are finally in firewood season. 

This was this morning, before a few repairs were done to the old tractor. 

Thank you for all your hard work SP!

After 13 years...

It is time to repair the compost pile. 

The cedar posts may not last another year. 

What great use we have gotten from salvaged wood. 

Preparing our temporary Sugar House!

It's a makeshift structure built by SP, our seasoned mason. 

Spring has sprung

Three wonderful signs of spring: the hammock is hung, the buds are bursting, and SP is tilling the garden. I love Tillulah our tiller. Go check her out at this link. She's a beauty and my first Mother's Day presents after we moved to Maine.

While I was away...

SP did play! (At least in the garage!)
Yea for him - he's been wanting a work bench for a long time!

Fire wood

This is the long awaited culmination of our tree girdling project. Much thanks for all the firewood my dear SP! 

And we are off!

First log to be skid!

The pile begins and then it grows...

And then I get my turn on the tractor to skid the green wood to its final drying spot on top of the well.