One more load!

Under the lights

The time change has made it hard to keep working past 4:30 each day, so I busted out the flood lights and put in a few extra hours to get what I moved stacked. It has been a long few days of playing around with firewood. I am fairly certain that after this is all done I will no longer enjoy working with firewood. It was pretty sweet tonight when I finished picking it all up under the lights of the tractor. I couldn't help but smile as I left the guys driveway where I have spent way to many hours.  

More wood

Back on the lake there is still more to get done before winter puts the hammer down. The dumptruck has been in the shop but luckily was ready yesterday. We have an enormous amount of firewood to move and then stack. With the ice covered ground, the entire road and driveway leading to the house where the wood was needed to be sanded. because the truck was in use I had to shovel it by hand and make trips with the tractor. Coming off a relaxing birthday it was refreshing to get out and accomplish something. I worked till well after dark last night under the lights of the tractor and got a good start. Today is 5 degrees and about a thirty mile an hour wind howling off the lake. It should be pretty raw working but hopefully ill get it all moved today and be able to continue stacking tonight into tomorrow and Wednesday. This is the pile that needs to be moved, and then one of the areas that it will be re-stacked.

What a guy

I came out of the house and Sheamus motioned for me to come out on the dock. Once I was there he sat down and cleared his throat and in his kermit the frog/Frank Sinatra voice, sung me happy birthday. Thanks a lot pal, your quite a guy.

A snowy birthday

With no truck and snow falling hard I spent the day reading by the wood stove. I read the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. It was a great piece of writing, what a masterful use of words. It is actually overwhelming how someone could put there thoughts on paper in such a way. I guess I need to play more scrabble, because my vocabulary can't compete without a dictionary. Anyway it was a great read and It made me want to have a hundred people over and have a party Jay Gatsby style. Instead I ate a big lunch and drank a Guinness with Shaemus and we had our own party.

Back in the northcountry

With Dad and Donna in the Key's, I am in charge of the three dogs. It has been crazy so far but very manageable. Turns out the little dogs like the snow and stay outside in there pen for hours at a time. I thought they were Cuban and hated cold? Anyway, they are not allowed outside the pen until the ice freezes because they don't really understand the meaning of thin ice. I almost went swimming a few days ago when Eddie walked about 50 feet out onto the ice and nearly broke through. Thankfully Shaemus came out of the woods and got there attention back on shore. It was real cold and man that would have been a cold venture crashing through the thin ice to rescue the little ones.

Shaemes from the sea to the farm

Shaemus, as most know, is not to hard to please. He romped around the many different beaches chasing birds, greeting other dogs, and backing people up against the bushes on the cliff paths. Most people think he is a killer, and female. I guess I just don't see it. I see a gentle little guy, even an old man that wouldn't even know how to hurt something if he wanted to. He is unfortunately type casted, this is the face of the female killer that people must see as he comes trotting down the path toward them.

A rookie bro comes to town

Jason Schroeder, My room mate during rookie training came out to New York for Thanksgiving and drove up to Maine for a couple nights. It was great to see him and show him around the town I grew up in and around. We had a great time indulging in the great food and drink Portsmouth, NH has to offer. Jason was fortunate enough to eat some Maine lobster for the first time, and was educated on the current lobster crisis in Maine by the knowledgeable women who sold them to us. Over two days, we drove around the area and even visited the farm. Thanks for coming Schroeder!

Working on the roof

With Bill in charge, and Tim and I hard at work we managed to get the roof on the porch. The weather was brutal the whole time, but getting the roof on was a huge accomplishment. Thanks again to Tim for helping out, it really was a three man job most the time and he knew what he was doing so it went smooth. 

Big Dog Little Dogs

Poor Shaemus was feeling pretty down when Eddie and Tico were being cradled. We felt bad but what can you do?  Then it came to me, now he is back to his old happy self

Putting the roof on, Tim comes for a visit!

With the window closing quick on outside work, and snow already coating the ground, we put a drive on to get the roof put on cabin five. By pure coincidence My cousin Tim came for a visit, cutting my workload in half. Tim already had a good idea of what was going on so I was able to sort of hide behind him when Bill (Dad' friend the carpenter) asked us to do something.  Thanks Tim

Travel Travel Travel

I have been driving all over the state of Maine and most recently down to Mass for my Mom's Birthday. I did not take many pictures except for one morning after running on Long Sands Beach in York. Shaemus was on suicide watch due to lack of exercise and poor ownership. He was stoked and we were friends again by the time I took this.

Winter is here.......sigh

Winter is here, it is cold, I saw some snow flakes. That's it, goodbye fall, sigh...... Everything seems to be harder when it gets cold. We have a few key projects like a water line to finish and now that it is cold ass hell everything is freezing. We should have the water line done in the net few days if we can get the insulation tomorrow and the stars align. This is a look at a small portion of the ditch Dad dug with the tractor, those piles of backfill are covered with hay tonight so they hopefully don't freeze. 

Payback

Just to thank Donna for the spa treatment, Eddie decided to get into her bag of Knitting supplies, and projects. He got all kinds of tangled up and made a huge mess. Tico left a thank you card next to Donna's bed. Good dog Tico.

Only the best for the little ones...

The "boys" as Tico and Eddie are affectionately referred to, needed to be groomed. They were taken to non other than the finest groomer money could buy. Houlton's own..........

Shaemus goes hunting

So the other day I was looking around for Shaemus, when he came out of what looked to be his tree stand. Apparently he has got into hunting since he has come to Maine. He has his two articles of orange on these days so he is legal. Good Dog, I hope you get a big one bud!

Dr. Lord administering.......something

A broken women

Liv came up to the camps about a month ago on the eve of her knee surgery. She was to have her ACL operated on in York after tearing it in an alumni soccer game at UMaine Farmington, drag. She was more than happy to go fishing in the rain all weekend with me even though we caught nothing, unreal! This would be the start of some bad luck....... What was to be routine turned tragic when she was diagnosed with a staff infection. So instead of a quick recovery she spent a week in York Hospital and the last couple weeks laid up on the couch. Liv was able to come up to the lake after surgery just recently, hopefully enjoying a couple days with some different scenery. We enjoyed having her up, she even let me administer her some antibiotics, (or something) what a trip! It was great to spend some time with her, and well be running together in no time! Here are some pictures of before and after the surgery, get well soon sweetie, or should I say, Captain Liv

Donna and I hit the ditch full force

It was a rainy day and we were again laying sewer pipe. Donna and I were in the ditch wrestling with the pipe and untangling a mess that WE created. After this roll we were sure to take extra care to look at the roll and get it laying the correct way. As you can see we were struggling and glad to be done. Coffee was administered shortly after this picture was taken.

1300 ft of 2" plastic pipe layed

We have managed to hookup and lay 1300ft of sewer pipe. Man, this stuff is a pain in the neck and tough as hell to roll out. Despite it being cold as hell, and inflexible, we managed to do it. We insulated the pipes and backfilled as we went. We have a whole lot more to backfill but a good sized dent has been made. Hopefully we can get to some other projects that are a little more glorious.

Moving the oil tanks

In order to finish the ditching, two giant oil tanks had to be moved from behind cabin # 5. To our amazement the tractor was able to lit them up no problem.

The trenches

The old man sat up on his tractor digging while I slaved away in the trenches laying sewer line all day........ Actually he must have carpel tunnel from playing a real life video game all day, lucky. He gets into it and moves some serious dirt around. Weston, "In my next life I'm going to run excavators" (That is a direct quote) aka Dad, DID all the work, I occasionally got into the ditch and continued the line, putting insulation over the pipe and burying it. We got a ton accomplished and dug farther than either of us could have imagined, no huge rocks halting progress.  The rest of the day I bounced around doing all kinds of stuff. At one point I swept three chimneys, I felt like Marry Poppins Boyfriend. Chim-chiminy- chim chim-chim- charoo right? something like that. Anyway, it was a good productive day. Shameus stayed close (except for when he was eating the better part of a bag of kitchen trash) supervising the operations, making sure we weren't being unsafe or making any mistakes. We pay close attention to safety, always.

Wood.

There has been a lot of projects being worked on, one of which is an ongoing project that started when I first arrived, Wood. From tree length, to rounds, to the splitter, and stacked. It's quite an operation.  The wood is not nearly done though, we have four cords left to be stacked at an unknown date. Anyway I wanted to make mention of a job that screams winter like no other.

Tearing the shed down

Today Dad decided to Demo the two old shed's that have cast a very ugly shadow for far to many years; Five years. It was some rotten stuff, including the deer mount that can't seem to find it's way to the dump. ( I fully support keeping the deer mount!) We took down one shed and took the wreckage to the dump, keeping any useful items that were found. The rest of the day was spent rounding up fire wood and moving it to be split. I split about half the pile and took shaemus for a short run before dark. Rain tomorrow, good sleeping weather!

Shaemus the most chill dog on the planet

Today was a cloudy day but pleasant. I ran this morning without shaemus, i thought he might need a break after a few days in a row of long runs.  He is such a good dog, he has such an interesting personality, kind of a wonder. Anyway I wanted to post a picture of us hanging out together after working up at Abe's farm in York. what a great time he had there when I stayed for a few days. Oh and thanks a lot to the Zacherias family for putting us up for as long as you did!

Out for a sunset cruise

Every nice night after work I head out on the lake for a sunset cruise. I can't help but feel like I'm the luckiest guy around. What a wonderful way to end each day. It is a constant reminder to me how amazing it is to live up here. seeing the ebb and flood of folks coming here to vacation for the week or two at a time each year, my house being where they want to spend their coveted time off. sigh.......... Anyway tonights was not as great as some I have been out to see, but any sunset is great.

The porch

These are some shots of the Porch near completion, and a one of cabin 6, which is our ultimate goal for a finished cabin 5 . It may be the best built one yet!

The septic tank

My Dad dug a big old hole for our new 1000 gallon septic tank. we took out some stumps and all kinds of other trees and brush to make way. Dad wanted to put this stump on top of an already full truck. With protest I did it. Ultimately, it came off and was taken on the nxt trip to the dump.

projects projects and more projects..........

Well I'm at it, here are some pictures of some of the "projects" we "putter" around and try to get done. Rachel- the one of Dads van carrying all that.......... um...well Stuff, It is insulation but where do you find used insulation??????? Only Dad, what a sight. That van and trailer is now parked in the yard looking really great next to the lake!

Who let the Dogs out????

So Dad and Donna got two havanese puppy's "Tico and Eddie" They are both insane and incredibly cool. Eddie is the black one, he has a big attitude problem, kinda like a Fonzie or a James Dean, not to be controlled by anyone! Tico is Aloof and so good natured, he loves Shameus so much it's real cute. Shaemus is doing great, and after a stint with a cough he is on the mend and his coughing has subsided. We have been running the last couple days and were both getting in shape. The dogs get along great and you couldn't find a calmer dog to handle the madness then shaemus. I'm real happy to see the positive changes in Shaemus as he settle into life on East Grand Lake. here are some photos of the new friends my dog has made.

Building of the porch (cabin 5)

So we are building a porch on cabin five much like the porch on cabin 6 and 7. Dad an I only almost killed each other a couple of times. Considering how easy it is to tell your dad to #%$@ off that's not to bad.! No seriously though I learned a thing or two about building with logs from the woods (they are NOT square in any way) So we custom fit here and there where the imperfections showed up. All in all it was a success, here are some pictures to prove a job well done.

Fall building and brisk temps

So im going to give this blog a good college try. Hopefully ill be able to keep it going semi-regular basis considering the time I seem to have on my hands.

Training

I went skiing at Mt. Bachelor yesterday, not as good as a couple days ago but it snowed all day and the snow was amazing. The ride home was intense to say the least and by the time we got back to Bend (20 miles) it was all rain. The weather up there is out of control, it will be sunny in Bend and the mountain is a complete blizzard. I was supposed to go to the gym after but "Jordo" Mac's friend came into town so we stayed home.

I got up late this morning around 9:30. I felt like shit for not running or swimming yesterday but the day of skiing was hard, so a night of rest was most likely needed. I went on a 45 min run this morning on the Deschutes river trail which turned out to be a great run along the river right out the front door of my house. I bought some Yak Tracks for my shoes so the snow and ice isn't so bad. It was sunny and pretty warm out making for a great workout.

I have been Applying for smokejumping positions all over the country and it is real nerve racking. Talking to the different bases and the "Jumpers" is like walking into the lions den. With so many applications they really let you know that it is not for everyone, and if you don't have much fire experience forget about it. You have to basically convince them through recommendations and references that your in shape enough, and mentally ready to be a smokejumper. Needless to say it is tough to portray yourself through words when your nervous as hell. Anyway, i'm heading to Boise, ID for an interview on Wednesday with the Boise Smokejumpers which is part of the BLM not the forest service. I have some administrative duties to take care of today so hopefully i can get it all taken care of. For now though off to get a good cup of coffee.

A new begining........

So this time I am going to keep up on this and update what I'm up to day to day. Im in Bend, Oregon training for fire season and skiing, and exploring like crazy. Publish Post