I knew it was going to be a bad day when I started out by getting the snowmobile stuck in the turnaround on the way back from the bus stop. Because it had warmed up so much ... we actually hit 48 F ... the snow was extremely soft and the sled slid off the trail and into the snow. It took me over half an hour to finally get it out and onto the trail again. And I knew that I couldn't just leave it and wait for Garrick to come home to help me as the temperature was predicted to drop ... the snowmobile would freeze in place if I didn't get it moved!
The morning progressed ... next the dryer vent came off so upon opening the doors to the closet that houses the washer/dryer, I discovered that my walls were dripping with water and covered with lint. From there I proceeded to have my dishwasher flood the newly mopped kitchen floor. Then I discovered that water was dripping all over the window sills because the ice dams that had formed on the roof, were now melting due to the increase in temperature. (George later informed me that this was the reason he shoveled off the roof each time it snowed!)
Then, I dragged all the trash out of the basement and into the tow sled and headed out for the dump. Only to find, that for some reason unknown to anyone in all of Rockwood (believe me I asked everyone), the dump was closed. So, I had to take all the garbage out of the truck, put it back into the tow sled, drag it back into camp, and redeposit it all back into the basement.
I don't know if you've ever read the children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", but if you have, you'd agree that I should have moved to Australia too! Instead, I had friends visit from the concrete jungles of New York City and they were more than excited to be able to partake in living the adventures of The North Woods ... for a weekend anyway.
We snowshoed, ice skated, and built campfires on the lake (and tried to make smores with frozen marshmallows and frozen Hershey Bars while running after graham crackers that were blowing away in the wind). But our biggest adventure (other than just towing them and their gear in and out from the parking lot) was a 90 mile trip up around the north side of the lake.
Garrick and Caroline were on our two-up as they are too young to drive rental machines. Cord, Jon, and I each drove our own sleds. The intial line-up was Garrick, Jon, Cord, and then me. They said that they put me in the back because I was wearing mittens thus the only hand signal I could give was the 'fist' - meaning that there were zero sleds behind me - but I realized after about the first 20 minutes that the real reason I was last was because they intended to top out their machines the whole way and I was more than happy driving just 30 or 40 mph! So they would drive 50 or 60 or maybe even 85 mph and hold up their 3, 2, or 1 fingered gloves as they passed other riders. And, somewhere miles behind, the other riders would finally come across that last lone sled with the driver holding her clenched fist in the air.
Garrick and Caroline switched off and Caroline did an awesome job ... the first time she drove. The second time she drove (or shall I say the last time that she drove), we switched up the order and Jon was first, Cord was second, the kids were third, and I was ... you guessed it ... bringing up the rear! We weren't 5 minutes out and Jon and Cord were no where to be found. Caroline was trying to keep up, as Cord had to go pee and didn't dare go in the woods, but in her hurry didn't stop to take the time to move her hair out of her face and ... she totally misjudged the trail. Next thing I saw was the two of them, on the sled, careening out of control off the trail. They literally flew through the air into a patch of clear cut, missing a tree, a big tree, by inches. When they finally landed, they were thrown from the sled and the sled was resting on top of a 4 foot long log on its side. And ... Jon and Cord were no where to be found. As a matter of fact, they never did return to try to find us!
Within mintues, a twosome went by and they immediately stopped to help us. The sled was so buried and so far off the trail though that I never thought we would be able to get it out nor drive it again. The two men worked on getting the machine off the log and upright again while the kids and I packed down a path to pull the sled back up the hill onto the trail. Then, another group stopped to help and fortunately, they had a tow rope. It took about a half hour, but they did manage to get us on the road again. Miraculously, we ended up with only a ripped seat and a torn mesh vent cover. Thankfully, the rest of our trip was uneventful!
So, if anyone else feels like experiencing an adventure in the woods, we have plenty of snow and more on the way tomorrow. Just give us a call and we'll try to squeeze you in ... better hurry though as the phone has been ringing off the hook for the past month or so.
Karyn
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Where there's smoke there's fire ...
... or maybe there's just smoke!
We returned on Sunday night to a cold house as we turn the temperature down to 50 F when we leave for the weekend. This of course necessitates that we drain the water from the pipes and the hot water heater (every time we go away) because if the electricity were to go out while we were gone, no one ... except the squirrels ... would be here to call in the power outage and the pipes could potentially freeze ... and burst. So, while the kids unload the sled, my first two tasks are to get the water back on and to get the fire going.
The water was no problem as I have finally learned that I must close the valves on the well pump AND the hot water heater before flipping the breaker switch to turn the power on. Hearing the sound of gushing water in the basement once was enough to forever imprint in my mind the proper sequence. And, in spite of the hassle of having to drain everything, I am thankful that we do have running water in the house and are not headed out to the well every day!
The fire was another story! I cleaned out the ashes (Caroline was kind enough to go dump the ash bucket in the woods for me) and got to work starting the fire. It was a bit smoky and the fire didn't seem to be burning well but this has happened in the past when we are starting with a cold chimney, which causes a bad draft. We headed off to bed shortly thereafter. Monday morning, the fire didn't seem to be getting much better. The house seemed kind of smoky and we weren't going through wood as quickly as we usually do but hey, the smoke alarms weren't sounding so things couldn't be too bad. We limped through the day figuring Tuesday would be a better day ... maybe it was just the wood.
By the time we got to the third log on Tuesday, the smoke alarm began to sound. Time to open the windows ... again. I couldn't figure out how we kept getting smoke in the house when I had been keeping the wood stove door closed. I went outside and there was plenty of smoke billowing from the stove pipe. Then, as Caroline and I sat down to read ... in the living room as our eyes were burning when we sat up in the loft ... Caroline said, "Mom, why is the smoke coming out of the stove pipe into the house?"
I immediately got the smothering log out of the fireplace and tossed it outside in the snowbank and then called Kevin, the chimney installer ... who was ... out for the day. We got the smoke out of the house, turned up the furnace, as it was now 56 F ... in the house, and I headed to town to run errands for the afternoon.
My first stop was to pick up my special order groceries from a friend who coincidentally sells the largest Farm Fresh eggs you've ever seen! (Yes, I can now get Ghirardelli hot cocoa and Indian curry paste and Buffalo Wing mix ... but not fresh Cilantro out of season ... in little ole Greenville, Maine.) It just so happens that Kevin called me back while I was at Gretchen's house so I explained to her that I was having a problem with the woodstove. She immediately told me that it needed to be cleaned and said that I should call the fire department as they would come clean it for me 'for a small donation'. She said that she would call me later with the phone number.
In the meantime, when we got home, Garrick dug out the extension ladder from under the deck, shoveled off the roof, and climbed up to take a look. While it wasn't possible to make a definite diagnosis because it was getting dark and the top of the stove pipe was just out of reach for someone only 5' 10" tall, we are surmising that the cap on the stove pipe needs to be cleaned.
Later, Gretchen called me with the number of someone her husband knows at the Rockwood Fire Department (population 4) and she in turn put me in contact with the Fire Chief. While the fire department no longer does chimney cleaning , due to liability issues, Rick is trying to find someone who can help me out ... good thing as the nearest Chimney Sweep listed in the Yellow Pages is a mere 70 miles down the road! And, if all else fails, Gretchen has very generously offered her husband's assistance. As he is 6' 8"tall, he will have no trouble reaching the top of the stovepipe!
As we have guests coming for the weekend, I am hoping all this is resolved shortly ... I'd hate for them to have to spend the holiday weekend in a house that is only 64 F ... during the day ... as we are still trying to conserve that precious oil!
Karyn
We returned on Sunday night to a cold house as we turn the temperature down to 50 F when we leave for the weekend. This of course necessitates that we drain the water from the pipes and the hot water heater (every time we go away) because if the electricity were to go out while we were gone, no one ... except the squirrels ... would be here to call in the power outage and the pipes could potentially freeze ... and burst. So, while the kids unload the sled, my first two tasks are to get the water back on and to get the fire going.
The water was no problem as I have finally learned that I must close the valves on the well pump AND the hot water heater before flipping the breaker switch to turn the power on. Hearing the sound of gushing water in the basement once was enough to forever imprint in my mind the proper sequence. And, in spite of the hassle of having to drain everything, I am thankful that we do have running water in the house and are not headed out to the well every day!
The fire was another story! I cleaned out the ashes (Caroline was kind enough to go dump the ash bucket in the woods for me) and got to work starting the fire. It was a bit smoky and the fire didn't seem to be burning well but this has happened in the past when we are starting with a cold chimney, which causes a bad draft. We headed off to bed shortly thereafter. Monday morning, the fire didn't seem to be getting much better. The house seemed kind of smoky and we weren't going through wood as quickly as we usually do but hey, the smoke alarms weren't sounding so things couldn't be too bad. We limped through the day figuring Tuesday would be a better day ... maybe it was just the wood.
By the time we got to the third log on Tuesday, the smoke alarm began to sound. Time to open the windows ... again. I couldn't figure out how we kept getting smoke in the house when I had been keeping the wood stove door closed. I went outside and there was plenty of smoke billowing from the stove pipe. Then, as Caroline and I sat down to read ... in the living room as our eyes were burning when we sat up in the loft ... Caroline said, "Mom, why is the smoke coming out of the stove pipe into the house?"
I immediately got the smothering log out of the fireplace and tossed it outside in the snowbank and then called Kevin, the chimney installer ... who was ... out for the day. We got the smoke out of the house, turned up the furnace, as it was now 56 F ... in the house, and I headed to town to run errands for the afternoon.
My first stop was to pick up my special order groceries from a friend who coincidentally sells the largest Farm Fresh eggs you've ever seen! (Yes, I can now get Ghirardelli hot cocoa and Indian curry paste and Buffalo Wing mix ... but not fresh Cilantro out of season ... in little ole Greenville, Maine.) It just so happens that Kevin called me back while I was at Gretchen's house so I explained to her that I was having a problem with the woodstove. She immediately told me that it needed to be cleaned and said that I should call the fire department as they would come clean it for me 'for a small donation'. She said that she would call me later with the phone number.
In the meantime, when we got home, Garrick dug out the extension ladder from under the deck, shoveled off the roof, and climbed up to take a look. While it wasn't possible to make a definite diagnosis because it was getting dark and the top of the stove pipe was just out of reach for someone only 5' 10" tall, we are surmising that the cap on the stove pipe needs to be cleaned.
Later, Gretchen called me with the number of someone her husband knows at the Rockwood Fire Department (population 4) and she in turn put me in contact with the Fire Chief. While the fire department no longer does chimney cleaning , due to liability issues, Rick is trying to find someone who can help me out ... good thing as the nearest Chimney Sweep listed in the Yellow Pages is a mere 70 miles down the road! And, if all else fails, Gretchen has very generously offered her husband's assistance. As he is 6' 8"tall, he will have no trouble reaching the top of the stovepipe!
As we have guests coming for the weekend, I am hoping all this is resolved shortly ... I'd hate for them to have to spend the holiday weekend in a house that is only 64 F ... during the day ... as we are still trying to conserve that precious oil!
Karyn
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Ritz!
I apologize for being remiss in my blogging efforts these past two weeks. It seems the longer I procrastinate, the harder it gets to gather all my thoughts together in a coherent form and thus I procrastinate still longer. As a result, I have two promises to keep (1) that I will attempt to recreate the fun of the last two weeks without boring you entirely, and (2) that I will post more frequently, using less space, in my future posts. (i.e. This one could be quite lengthy!)
While the weekdays here in the woods have been quite quiet, on the weekends, the West Shore Road Association, our so called 'development', can get to be quite a busy place. While we are not usually around to experience this eruption of activity, we do usually manage to catch the start of it on Friday afternoons as we are headed out to 'the real world'. The parking lot fills up with vehicles toting snowmobile trailers and the snowmobiles, in turn, are toting sleds full of supplies for the weekend, that is unless you are a true Beverly Hillbillie. Imagine my surprise as I was waiting for Garrick to get off the school bus one Friday afternoon when a two-up (a snowmobile for two riders) was heading into the woods towing not a sled but a forest green Old Town Canoe, filled to the brim with food, camping stove, ice fishing supplies, etc. Now I don't know if they actually thought that they would need a boat to ice fish (I once thought that one used horses to play water polo), or they were just very practical people and had found a dual use for their canoe. I think I was a bit jealous also in that being a spendthrift, I had actually wasted over a hundred dollars on a sled when I too could have been toting my groceries in a kayak or two. It was another 'wish I had a camera for that' moment!
And, another 'wish I had a camera with a gigantic lens for that' moment occured not long afterwards thanks once again to my friends the squirrels. Feeling sorry for my little squirrels and their blue jay friends who were having to eat from the ground ... and probably more so for myself who was going out three times a day, in the cold, to put little piles of food out for those who couldn't eat off of the extremely well-engineered bird feeder with the trap door ... I broke down and bought yet another feeder, this one a cedar box specifically made for BOTH birds and squirrels. (Boy, have I softened up!) This 'box' has a plexiglass front and the lid is on a hinge so that the very smart squirrels can open the lid and eat from the top of the feeder. Apparently, those squirrels all migrated south for the winter. My squirrels eat from the slot at the bottom of the plexiglass just like the birds ... unless ... the feeder is almost empty and the only food left is in the remote back corners of the box. While I was doing the dishes one morning, I thought I was imagining things when I saw a squirrel on the ledge of the feeder and then I didn't see the squirrel on the ledge any longer. He didn't jump down, he didn't climb the tree, he simply disappeared. After watching a bit longer, and seeing him reappear ... from inside the bird/squirrel feeder, I was amazed. He had squeezed underneath the plexiglass in order to get inside the box to get the last bits of food ... it was like watching a squirrel TV! I can honestly say that I am very glad not to have resorted to the BB gun as the squirrels have provided much more entertainment than any of the other animals thus far!
And, happy am I to have to only go out twice a week to restock the sunflower seeds because last Monday, we once again were at OF.L on that oh-so-reliable digital thermometer! Anna and George inferred that it would be this way until the end of February which sent me in a tailspin as I was getting worried about my dwindling heating resources. Half of my wood was gone by the third week of January and my oil supply was down a quarter of a tank. (We use the oil at night to supplement when the fire dies down.) George let me know that it would be possible to get a permit for $10 from the timber company in order to cut down trees on their land, which is in close proximity to our camp, and even offered to come help me. My intention in buying that chain saw, however, was only for clearing trees that were blocking the roadway; I never intended to actually use it to saw down trees and cut them up for firewood! So, while I appreciated his heartfelt offer, I politely declined and instead went home to count my pieces of firewood. In early March, the little wood that I have left will be reserved for power outages and I will be heating entirely with oil until the road opens to heavy loads, in mid to late May, for the oil truck delivery.
So, that night, I also turned down the heat. As Garrick's room is tucked in a corner behind the stairwell and the heat from the fireplace doesn't tend to get in there, it is commonly referred to as 'the icebox'. Apparently, he woke up shivering in 'the icebox' at about 1:30 and had to retreat to the couch that night. Determined to conserve what oil I had left, I decided that we had better adjust the sleeping arrangements. So, the following night, Garrick moved to the loft and the thermostat stayed at a chilly 56 F. Fortunately, this cold streak wasn't as bad as the last one, and we were back to 'normal' temperatures the following day.
A week later, the temperatures climbed once again and for the first time in two months, we were above freezing ... at 32.8 F ... for an hour! Not exactly Indian Summer but it sure felt good after being so cold for so long! And, this was the perfect opportunity for getting the sled down to Greenville to get it fixed before another Arctic front moved in. I called Peter at Big Lake Equipment and he said that Garrick could bring it down on Wednesday ... today. Not having riden the trails down to Greenville yet, we knew this would be yet another adventure. Garrick spoke with the older kids on the bus to get information on which trails would be groomed and I also asked around to find out where to catch the trail from our house. One would think that driving down the lake would be the best route but unfortunately, the lake is not groomed and it doesn't freeze completely in some places ... at least one person dies every year snowmobiling out there.
So, the trail it was. We didn't realize that the trail doesn't follow the road. So, while it is about 18 miles from here to town when driving, it is actually about 40 miles on the snowmobile trail. The plan was for Garrick to ride down and drop off the machine before school and pick it up after school and drive it home again. That was the plan ...
Garrick left before dawn as we figured it would take him about 75 minutes and school starts at 8:05. He had my cell phone and was supposed to call me after about 20 minutes when he got to the first bridge. He called in about 25 minutes, about 1/4 of a mile from the parking lot because ... he was stuck in a snowbank. There was really nothing I could do as I would have to walk all the way out to him. So, I called George who was on his way out for school drop-off. Before George got to Garrick though, a logger showed up and the two of them got the sled out. Apparently, Garrick was on the old snowmobile trail ... the new one was a mile up the road ... my fault as this was the information I had been given. He was on his way, for the second time, at about 7:30 ... there was no way he would be in time for school. At about 7:55 I tried to call him so that I could let the school know what time he would be arriving but he was not in range of a cell tower. The school didn't seem to care that he would be late but for me the next 55 minutes were nerve racking. I couldn't contact him and just had to hope he was all right and on the right road toward town. Hopefully the signs were good ... forty miles is a long way alone. Finally at 8:45 he called to let me know he had made it. I was very relieved and he was very proud. Not only had the trip been a lot of fun for him (excluding the dig out and the three moose that frightened him as he came quickly around a corner into their paths), it was a real sense of accomplishment for him to be able to figure this all out on his own. And, I think the ride home was easier for both of us! Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to forgoing the 30 yanks on the pull cord and finally being able to turn the key to start the sled!
One last observation before I run the risk of boring you all to tears ... I met a woman Emily last week at a homeschooling meeting. She put everything into perspective when she asked if I lived off the grid. I explained that while we didn't have winter (or spring) road access, we did have electricity and oil heat. She, on the other hand, has road access but lives off the grid. They live about 20 miles north of here, on the lake, and have no land line phone, no electricity, and get this ... no running water in the house. The camp was originally their summer camp but they have recently moved up from southern Maine and are making this their primary residence. They heat with wood only, have a generator for power and have a well ... outside. So, while I am complaining about having to go out to feed the squirrels three times a day, they are going out many more times than that just to get their water. And, I'm guessing that they are heating it up on the woodstove in order to bathe. Makes this place look like the Ritz!!!
Karyn
While the weekdays here in the woods have been quite quiet, on the weekends, the West Shore Road Association, our so called 'development', can get to be quite a busy place. While we are not usually around to experience this eruption of activity, we do usually manage to catch the start of it on Friday afternoons as we are headed out to 'the real world'. The parking lot fills up with vehicles toting snowmobile trailers and the snowmobiles, in turn, are toting sleds full of supplies for the weekend, that is unless you are a true Beverly Hillbillie. Imagine my surprise as I was waiting for Garrick to get off the school bus one Friday afternoon when a two-up (a snowmobile for two riders) was heading into the woods towing not a sled but a forest green Old Town Canoe, filled to the brim with food, camping stove, ice fishing supplies, etc. Now I don't know if they actually thought that they would need a boat to ice fish (I once thought that one used horses to play water polo), or they were just very practical people and had found a dual use for their canoe. I think I was a bit jealous also in that being a spendthrift, I had actually wasted over a hundred dollars on a sled when I too could have been toting my groceries in a kayak or two. It was another 'wish I had a camera for that' moment!
And, another 'wish I had a camera with a gigantic lens for that' moment occured not long afterwards thanks once again to my friends the squirrels. Feeling sorry for my little squirrels and their blue jay friends who were having to eat from the ground ... and probably more so for myself who was going out three times a day, in the cold, to put little piles of food out for those who couldn't eat off of the extremely well-engineered bird feeder with the trap door ... I broke down and bought yet another feeder, this one a cedar box specifically made for BOTH birds and squirrels. (Boy, have I softened up!) This 'box' has a plexiglass front and the lid is on a hinge so that the very smart squirrels can open the lid and eat from the top of the feeder. Apparently, those squirrels all migrated south for the winter. My squirrels eat from the slot at the bottom of the plexiglass just like the birds ... unless ... the feeder is almost empty and the only food left is in the remote back corners of the box. While I was doing the dishes one morning, I thought I was imagining things when I saw a squirrel on the ledge of the feeder and then I didn't see the squirrel on the ledge any longer. He didn't jump down, he didn't climb the tree, he simply disappeared. After watching a bit longer, and seeing him reappear ... from inside the bird/squirrel feeder, I was amazed. He had squeezed underneath the plexiglass in order to get inside the box to get the last bits of food ... it was like watching a squirrel TV! I can honestly say that I am very glad not to have resorted to the BB gun as the squirrels have provided much more entertainment than any of the other animals thus far!
And, happy am I to have to only go out twice a week to restock the sunflower seeds because last Monday, we once again were at OF.L on that oh-so-reliable digital thermometer! Anna and George inferred that it would be this way until the end of February which sent me in a tailspin as I was getting worried about my dwindling heating resources. Half of my wood was gone by the third week of January and my oil supply was down a quarter of a tank. (We use the oil at night to supplement when the fire dies down.) George let me know that it would be possible to get a permit for $10 from the timber company in order to cut down trees on their land, which is in close proximity to our camp, and even offered to come help me. My intention in buying that chain saw, however, was only for clearing trees that were blocking the roadway; I never intended to actually use it to saw down trees and cut them up for firewood! So, while I appreciated his heartfelt offer, I politely declined and instead went home to count my pieces of firewood. In early March, the little wood that I have left will be reserved for power outages and I will be heating entirely with oil until the road opens to heavy loads, in mid to late May, for the oil truck delivery.
So, that night, I also turned down the heat. As Garrick's room is tucked in a corner behind the stairwell and the heat from the fireplace doesn't tend to get in there, it is commonly referred to as 'the icebox'. Apparently, he woke up shivering in 'the icebox' at about 1:30 and had to retreat to the couch that night. Determined to conserve what oil I had left, I decided that we had better adjust the sleeping arrangements. So, the following night, Garrick moved to the loft and the thermostat stayed at a chilly 56 F. Fortunately, this cold streak wasn't as bad as the last one, and we were back to 'normal' temperatures the following day.
A week later, the temperatures climbed once again and for the first time in two months, we were above freezing ... at 32.8 F ... for an hour! Not exactly Indian Summer but it sure felt good after being so cold for so long! And, this was the perfect opportunity for getting the sled down to Greenville to get it fixed before another Arctic front moved in. I called Peter at Big Lake Equipment and he said that Garrick could bring it down on Wednesday ... today. Not having riden the trails down to Greenville yet, we knew this would be yet another adventure. Garrick spoke with the older kids on the bus to get information on which trails would be groomed and I also asked around to find out where to catch the trail from our house. One would think that driving down the lake would be the best route but unfortunately, the lake is not groomed and it doesn't freeze completely in some places ... at least one person dies every year snowmobiling out there.
So, the trail it was. We didn't realize that the trail doesn't follow the road. So, while it is about 18 miles from here to town when driving, it is actually about 40 miles on the snowmobile trail. The plan was for Garrick to ride down and drop off the machine before school and pick it up after school and drive it home again. That was the plan ...
Garrick left before dawn as we figured it would take him about 75 minutes and school starts at 8:05. He had my cell phone and was supposed to call me after about 20 minutes when he got to the first bridge. He called in about 25 minutes, about 1/4 of a mile from the parking lot because ... he was stuck in a snowbank. There was really nothing I could do as I would have to walk all the way out to him. So, I called George who was on his way out for school drop-off. Before George got to Garrick though, a logger showed up and the two of them got the sled out. Apparently, Garrick was on the old snowmobile trail ... the new one was a mile up the road ... my fault as this was the information I had been given. He was on his way, for the second time, at about 7:30 ... there was no way he would be in time for school. At about 7:55 I tried to call him so that I could let the school know what time he would be arriving but he was not in range of a cell tower. The school didn't seem to care that he would be late but for me the next 55 minutes were nerve racking. I couldn't contact him and just had to hope he was all right and on the right road toward town. Hopefully the signs were good ... forty miles is a long way alone. Finally at 8:45 he called to let me know he had made it. I was very relieved and he was very proud. Not only had the trip been a lot of fun for him (excluding the dig out and the three moose that frightened him as he came quickly around a corner into their paths), it was a real sense of accomplishment for him to be able to figure this all out on his own. And, I think the ride home was easier for both of us! Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to forgoing the 30 yanks on the pull cord and finally being able to turn the key to start the sled!
One last observation before I run the risk of boring you all to tears ... I met a woman Emily last week at a homeschooling meeting. She put everything into perspective when she asked if I lived off the grid. I explained that while we didn't have winter (or spring) road access, we did have electricity and oil heat. She, on the other hand, has road access but lives off the grid. They live about 20 miles north of here, on the lake, and have no land line phone, no electricity, and get this ... no running water in the house. The camp was originally their summer camp but they have recently moved up from southern Maine and are making this their primary residence. They heat with wood only, have a generator for power and have a well ... outside. So, while I am complaining about having to go out to feed the squirrels three times a day, they are going out many more times than that just to get their water. And, I'm guessing that they are heating it up on the woodstove in order to bathe. Makes this place look like the Ritz!!!
Karyn
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