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
Friday, January 23, 2009
Putting an Expired Credit Card to Good Use!
As we were heading into the big city of Boston for the weekend, I figured it might be time to trade in those mukluks, ski jacket, and ratty jeans for something a bit 'unwoodslike'. I didn't go so far as to pack my spiked heels (which I don't own incidentally) but I did decide to don my wool jacket and somewhat more stylish black boots ... big mistake! The problem was not the actual choice of clothes but rather that I am a total creature of habit. I had prepared dinner for the ride and had everything ready to go. Caroline and I headed out ... she to pack the sled with cooler, duffle bags, and bookbags ... I to manage the snowmobile. This entails not only taking off the cover and managing to get the thing started (which usually takes a mere 20 or 30 pulls ... for me) but also lifting the thing in order to 'unstick' it from the snow and ice. You can imagine how my back has been feeling lately. Mission accomplished, Caroline attached the sled to the hitch, I wedged my purse between my legs, and we were off ... for the first time.
We arrived at the parking lot unscathed. I hopped off the snowmobile, reached for the truck keys, and ... realized that I was not wearing my ski jacket ... the one that not only contained the truck and house keys, but also the cell phone! Not a problem as we are smart enough to have a spare key hooked on a nail under the porch at home. Caroline unhooked the sled from the hitch, I tossed her my purse, and headed back for the house where the ski jacket was hanging on another nail ... this one in the basement. I arrived, jumped off the machine, reached for the key and came up ... empty! You see this is also the key that Garrick uses to get into the house if we are not home after school. Unfortunately, he is not a creature of habit and not only did he not replace the key, he has no idea where he put it. Mind you, it is still -18 F and I am starting to get just a little bit worried.
I jumped back on the snowmobile with one last hope ... that I had absentmindedly put both keys and phone into my purse that morning. As I drove out for the second time, I was beginning to panic. I tried to determine what options I had. Luckily, George and Anne were at home as their trucks were still in the parking lot; so I figured we could always go there if we needed to get warm. Then I figured, I could break a window to get into the house but this would obviously curtail our trip to Boston as I couldn't leave a house with a broken window and below zero temperatures for an entire weekend. When I arrived at the parking lot, I scrambled frantically in my purse and once again came up empty!
Caroline and I rode back in again. She checked the basement windows while I checked those on the first floor. All were locked. While Garrick had not left the key out, he had managed to forget to put the hatchet away ... at least I would have something to break the window with if need be. We were starting to get cold and I figured we had about five minutes before we would have to leave for George and Anne's place. Then I remembered how once when I was about Caroline's age, my father had used a credit card to open a door. I rummaged in my wallet and found the expired LL Bean card that I had yet to cut up and dispose of. I tried the back door first but it wouldn't work as Paul had tightened the striker plate over Thanksgiving to reduce the gap between the door and the frame. My last hope was the lakeside door ... it worked. We were in! And the only reason it worked was because we had opened and closed it so many times while bringing in the wet wood to the basement to dry. Paul had remarked at Christmas time that he needed to fix the gap on that door ... thank goodness he didn't!
I made a quick phone call to the school to make sure Garrick didn't get on the bus and we were on our way ... for the third and final time.
I wish I could say that the rest of the weekend went smoothly...
Boston was cold (no shorts for me) and snowy. Something to be expected in January I guess! On Sunday we left at 12:30 for home as it was snowing quite heavily. We arrived home at 9:30 pm after one of the worst drives of my life. We drove the entire 280 miles at a speed somewhere between 35 and 45 mph. As Paul told someone yesterday when they asked when we would be getting together again, "Karyn said, 'You know where I live if you want to find us.'" And, Caroline has been sick as a dog since we arrived back. So we aren't headed for Boston anytime soon.
While we arrived home to more seasonal temperatures, we have been promised that another Arctic Cold front is approaching this weekend and we can expect temperatures to be in the -20 F to -15 F range. Fire tending is looking awfully promising this weekend!
Karyn
We arrived at the parking lot unscathed. I hopped off the snowmobile, reached for the truck keys, and ... realized that I was not wearing my ski jacket ... the one that not only contained the truck and house keys, but also the cell phone! Not a problem as we are smart enough to have a spare key hooked on a nail under the porch at home. Caroline unhooked the sled from the hitch, I tossed her my purse, and headed back for the house where the ski jacket was hanging on another nail ... this one in the basement. I arrived, jumped off the machine, reached for the key and came up ... empty! You see this is also the key that Garrick uses to get into the house if we are not home after school. Unfortunately, he is not a creature of habit and not only did he not replace the key, he has no idea where he put it. Mind you, it is still -18 F and I am starting to get just a little bit worried.
I jumped back on the snowmobile with one last hope ... that I had absentmindedly put both keys and phone into my purse that morning. As I drove out for the second time, I was beginning to panic. I tried to determine what options I had. Luckily, George and Anne were at home as their trucks were still in the parking lot; so I figured we could always go there if we needed to get warm. Then I figured, I could break a window to get into the house but this would obviously curtail our trip to Boston as I couldn't leave a house with a broken window and below zero temperatures for an entire weekend. When I arrived at the parking lot, I scrambled frantically in my purse and once again came up empty!
Caroline and I rode back in again. She checked the basement windows while I checked those on the first floor. All were locked. While Garrick had not left the key out, he had managed to forget to put the hatchet away ... at least I would have something to break the window with if need be. We were starting to get cold and I figured we had about five minutes before we would have to leave for George and Anne's place. Then I remembered how once when I was about Caroline's age, my father had used a credit card to open a door. I rummaged in my wallet and found the expired LL Bean card that I had yet to cut up and dispose of. I tried the back door first but it wouldn't work as Paul had tightened the striker plate over Thanksgiving to reduce the gap between the door and the frame. My last hope was the lakeside door ... it worked. We were in! And the only reason it worked was because we had opened and closed it so many times while bringing in the wet wood to the basement to dry. Paul had remarked at Christmas time that he needed to fix the gap on that door ... thank goodness he didn't!
I made a quick phone call to the school to make sure Garrick didn't get on the bus and we were on our way ... for the third and final time.
I wish I could say that the rest of the weekend went smoothly...
Boston was cold (no shorts for me) and snowy. Something to be expected in January I guess! On Sunday we left at 12:30 for home as it was snowing quite heavily. We arrived home at 9:30 pm after one of the worst drives of my life. We drove the entire 280 miles at a speed somewhere between 35 and 45 mph. As Paul told someone yesterday when they asked when we would be getting together again, "Karyn said, 'You know where I live if you want to find us.'" And, Caroline has been sick as a dog since we arrived back. So we aren't headed for Boston anytime soon.
While we arrived home to more seasonal temperatures, we have been promised that another Arctic Cold front is approaching this weekend and we can expect temperatures to be in the -20 F to -15 F range. Fire tending is looking awfully promising this weekend!
Karyn
Friday, January 16, 2009
OF.L
Can you say cold?
At around 8:15 Wednesday night the phone rang. It was the neighbor ... the one that lives five miles down the road. Caroline picked it up and I heard her say, "Math Team practice?" Garrick then piped in, "Oh, yeah we have Math Team practice in the morning." Colby, whose mother was smart enough not to want to get up at 5:45 am to drive to Greenville, needed a ride. Math Team practice starts at 7:15 so that means we have to be out of the house by 6:15 to get the snowmobile going ... now using the pull start as the aluminum shaft on the electric start busted last week, not because of my fabulous jump but because someone continued to turn the key after the machine was already started, and the only way to get it fixed is to ride it the 20 miles to Greenville on the ITS trail or borrow a trailer, from the mechanic in Greenville, and buy a new ball for our hitch as our current one is 1 7/8" and the mechanic's trailer goes on a 2" ball, so we have resorted to using the pull start for now ... ride out to the truck and get that going for ten minutes to warm it up and then drive the almost 20 miles south to school, with a slight detour to The Wilson's Camps where Colby, aged 12, was having his morning coffee while waiting for his ride. The temperature when we left the house was -17.3 F, before windchill. Most places across the country were cancelling school ... we were still having Math Team practice at 7:15 am!
That afternoon, we had yet another opportunity to venture out as Thursday is Open Gym day in Rockwood. By 2:30, the temperature had risen to a balmy -3.8 F. As we hopped off the snowmobile and into the truck, Caroline remarked, "Wow, it feels really warm now, almost like it's 20!" Guess it is all relative.
When we climbed into bed last night, the temperature was already lower than it had been that morning ... -17.8F. When I crawled out of bed at 3 am to feed the fire and glanced at the thermometer it read ... OF.L! Now I don't know how exactly you'd pronounce that but I think it would come pretty close to AWFUL!!! Apparently, digital thermometers cut out at around 20 below. When I crawled out of bed at 6:15 to start the day, the thermometer still read OW.L. Unfortunately, I was again not awoken by the phone ringing with the recorded message from my computer friend Mrs. Brown announcing that school was closed ... or at least delayed. So Garrick and I got ready. Fortunately, the snowmobile started up and when I turned the truck on to get it warmed up out at the bus stop, it did start ... although it really didn't want to. George and Millie showed up just before the bus arrived. (I think they must have some sort of arrangement with the bus driver as they always seem to get to the bus stop 'just in time'.) When I asked George how cold it was he said that his thermometer read -35 F!!! When I mentioned that my thermometer had shut down, he said, "Oh, so you must have a digital thermometer." Guess I'm not in the know! He also mentioned that the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales converge again at -40 so for those of you across the ocean who don't use that crazy Fahrenheit scale, you can still appreciate exactly how cold it is.
Well we're off to Boston for the weekend to meet Paul (and warm up ... I'm even thinking of throwing in a pair of shorts). The thermometer has finally recovered ... it now reads -18 F!
Hope you're spending your weekend somewhere warm too -
Karyn
At around 8:15 Wednesday night the phone rang. It was the neighbor ... the one that lives five miles down the road. Caroline picked it up and I heard her say, "Math Team practice?" Garrick then piped in, "Oh, yeah we have Math Team practice in the morning." Colby, whose mother was smart enough not to want to get up at 5:45 am to drive to Greenville, needed a ride. Math Team practice starts at 7:15 so that means we have to be out of the house by 6:15 to get the snowmobile going ... now using the pull start as the aluminum shaft on the electric start busted last week, not because of my fabulous jump but because someone continued to turn the key after the machine was already started, and the only way to get it fixed is to ride it the 20 miles to Greenville on the ITS trail or borrow a trailer, from the mechanic in Greenville, and buy a new ball for our hitch as our current one is 1 7/8" and the mechanic's trailer goes on a 2" ball, so we have resorted to using the pull start for now ... ride out to the truck and get that going for ten minutes to warm it up and then drive the almost 20 miles south to school, with a slight detour to The Wilson's Camps where Colby, aged 12, was having his morning coffee while waiting for his ride. The temperature when we left the house was -17.3 F, before windchill. Most places across the country were cancelling school ... we were still having Math Team practice at 7:15 am!
That afternoon, we had yet another opportunity to venture out as Thursday is Open Gym day in Rockwood. By 2:30, the temperature had risen to a balmy -3.8 F. As we hopped off the snowmobile and into the truck, Caroline remarked, "Wow, it feels really warm now, almost like it's 20!" Guess it is all relative.
When we climbed into bed last night, the temperature was already lower than it had been that morning ... -17.8F. When I crawled out of bed at 3 am to feed the fire and glanced at the thermometer it read ... OF.L! Now I don't know how exactly you'd pronounce that but I think it would come pretty close to AWFUL!!! Apparently, digital thermometers cut out at around 20 below. When I crawled out of bed at 6:15 to start the day, the thermometer still read OW.L. Unfortunately, I was again not awoken by the phone ringing with the recorded message from my computer friend Mrs. Brown announcing that school was closed ... or at least delayed. So Garrick and I got ready. Fortunately, the snowmobile started up and when I turned the truck on to get it warmed up out at the bus stop, it did start ... although it really didn't want to. George and Millie showed up just before the bus arrived. (I think they must have some sort of arrangement with the bus driver as they always seem to get to the bus stop 'just in time'.) When I asked George how cold it was he said that his thermometer read -35 F!!! When I mentioned that my thermometer had shut down, he said, "Oh, so you must have a digital thermometer." Guess I'm not in the know! He also mentioned that the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales converge again at -40 so for those of you across the ocean who don't use that crazy Fahrenheit scale, you can still appreciate exactly how cold it is.
Well we're off to Boston for the weekend to meet Paul (and warm up ... I'm even thinking of throwing in a pair of shorts). The thermometer has finally recovered ... it now reads -18 F!
Hope you're spending your weekend somewhere warm too -
Karyn
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Footnote
Boy do I owe Garrick an apology ...
Went out to meet the bus this afternoon. I was a little late, and had forgotten the shovel, but the trail was packed down fairly well so I upped the speed a bit from this morning. Garrick was waiting for me just inside the gate (which incidentally has not yet been closed and locked in spite of the snow) and suggested that I turn around inside the gate as the snow plow had pushed a mound of snow up against the end of the trail. Normally, we have been riding right out to the parking lot. (Normally, I later learned, someone had been shoveling away the snow plow pile.) I took a quick look and thought I could take it. So, with Garrick on the back, we flew over the bank and landed safely on the other side, in the parking area. Boy was I feeling good ... too good. On the way back in, I gunned it and ... after flying through the air ... landed us both in the snow ... the very deep snow. Garrick thought we could drive it out so I gunned it again and just got us more stuck! He yelled, "You're not supposed to gun it. You have to ease it out! And you weren't supposed to gun it over the snow bank either." Fortunately, he knows more about the thing than I do and he was able to get us back on the track again ... and, he was gracious enough to let me drive the rest of the way home.
Bet you wish I had the camera for that one!
Karyn
Went out to meet the bus this afternoon. I was a little late, and had forgotten the shovel, but the trail was packed down fairly well so I upped the speed a bit from this morning. Garrick was waiting for me just inside the gate (which incidentally has not yet been closed and locked in spite of the snow) and suggested that I turn around inside the gate as the snow plow had pushed a mound of snow up against the end of the trail. Normally, we have been riding right out to the parking lot. (Normally, I later learned, someone had been shoveling away the snow plow pile.) I took a quick look and thought I could take it. So, with Garrick on the back, we flew over the bank and landed safely on the other side, in the parking area. Boy was I feeling good ... too good. On the way back in, I gunned it and ... after flying through the air ... landed us both in the snow ... the very deep snow. Garrick thought we could drive it out so I gunned it again and just got us more stuck! He yelled, "You're not supposed to gun it. You have to ease it out! And you weren't supposed to gun it over the snow bank either." Fortunately, he knows more about the thing than I do and he was able to get us back on the track again ... and, he was gracious enough to let me drive the rest of the way home.
Bet you wish I had the camera for that one!
Karyn
Not Even a One Hour Delay???
Hope everyone had a good holiday break. Ours was somewhat uneventful, (sounded like a good excuse for being a bit behind with my blogs) but good. We managed to make one trip out of the big woods ... all the way to Connecticut ... for New Year's Eve. Between the weather and the frequent shopping excursions, it took us 11 and a half hours to get there but it was worth the agony. It was a gathering of the old college crowd from Lehigh so I am sure you can imagine the antics of the night. The Jello shots and beer pong (played on the makeshift kitchen island 'court') lead to a 2 am Polar Bear Plunge into the ocean followed by a group gathering in the steam shower ... limiting myself to only one Jello shot, I had the wherewithal to decline those entertaining endeavors. Unfortunately, I was not the only spectator, so next year's gathering will most likely be sans kids!
The rest of the vacation was somewhat relaxing; we had very little precipitation so there was no shoveling or packing down the trail ... just the usual ... moving wood. Even the squirrels have been cooperating; twice a day I bring them their own special stash of sunflower seeds and they no longer attempt to traverse the wire to the bird feeder. They now have so much food that yesterday I actually caught sight of one of them taking seeds from the supply piles and burying them in various locations in the yard ... in case I go away???
As annoying as they are, they seem to be quite smart. Upon returning from the bus stop yesterday and tending to my usual morning chores, I looked out the window to find not one, but six squirrels scurrying around the feeding area. Why? There was a storm moving in and they knew it instinctively. Hmmm ... maybe there is a way to eliminate all that wasted time listening to those inaccurate meteorologists from now on.
Weren't those squirrels dead on (no hidden meaning intended)! The snow started by about 8 am and continued for almost 24 hours. By the time I had to go out to get Garrick from the bus, we had at least six inches of the fluffy stuff and I was starting to get anxious about the 'packing down of the trail', being that I had never actually had to do this before. But, 'I did great!' Wish Garrick could have said the same on the ride home! I'm not sure how it was that he got to drive, but, when we were a tenth of a mile from the camp, he slid off the trail and we sunk. You'd be surprised how far a 550 pound machine can sink in about 30 inches of snow (about 29 inches for those of you who are having a hard time doing the math). It only took about a half hour for us to dig out, tramp down, and get that thing out of there ... who needs a walking group for exercise! Once home, I sent Garrick out to do the rest of the packing down, shovel in hand so to speak. As the neighbors haven't yet returned from their jaunt to Germany, Garrick went out to run down their section of the road and then came home to work on our turn around and the yard. The snow dissipated for a while after that and of course picked up again just as we were getting ready to retire for the evening. So, at 9:45 pm, Garrick set out one more time to work the section from our house to the main road.
You can imagine my disbelief when I awoke this morning at 6:04 am to the incessant beeping of Garrick's alarm clock, not the 6 am phone call from my friend, the school principal recording, canceling school. I jumped out of bed, looked out the window to see snow flakes falling by the light of the moon, picked up the phone to make sure it wasn't dead, and ran downstairs to listen to the radio. Not even a one hour delay!!! We had gotten ten inches of snow, it was still snowing, and there wasn't even a one hour delay!!!
As we had to pack down the trail on the way to the bus, I knew we had to get moving. I grabbed the ash bucket and tramped out in the dark, down the partially shoveled path, to dump yesterday's ashes. Then, I put the coals into the empty ash bucket and started up the fire. I threw some breakfast at Garrick and started baking the oatmeal custard that Caroline and I would be having when I got back, in an hour. Hurriedly, I put on my snow pants, my extra socks, my mukluks (yes, I did get my very own mukluks for Christmas), my balaclava, my jacket, my snowmobile helmet, my glove liners, and my gloves (mind you I have to dress like this EVERY time I go somewhere) and headed out to the snowmobile, truck keys and cell phone in my securely-zipped pocket. I let Garrick drive ... after I warned him that if he didn't drive slowly and sunk the sled and missed the bus, I would be very angry ... and we managed to make it out in fifteen minutes, almost three times as long as when the trail is well 'groomed'. We then went through the usual routine ... warming up the truck, clearing the snow off, and shoveling out before Skip arrived.
I headed for home with a slight detour down the North Road, a mile each way, to once again pack down the trail for the neighbors as they are expected to arrive back today. Having not riden a sled down that way as of yet, I was a bit hesitant to go, not knowing what obstacles I may encounter and more importantly, not knowing the turn-around situation. To turn around a snowmobile, you need a lot more room than one would expect, and if you don't stay on the section that has been previously packed down ... you sink. Well, I made it and managed to survive the turn around. Their turn around is actually a bit easier than ours ... we go around the house and since the house is on a bit of a mound, there is a slope that needs to be navigated very carefully or ... the sled tips and the riders end up sunk. My mother can attest to that as Paul had the courtesy of tossing her off the sled upon her arrival here over the holidays. And, on her second snowmobile ride, the one she took on her way out, he tossed her again. I guess Garrick comes by his operating skills honestly!
Well, the snow has finally stopped and the squirrels have yet to appear at the feeding station this morning. I guess that means we're not in for any more snow today ... or perhaps they are still sleeping off yesterday's banquet (or maybe that one squirrel is still trying to figure out where he put all those sunflower seeds). I suppose that means it's time for me to get out there and start moving some more of that snow. Heavy lifting but beautiful!
Karyn
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