August Summer Fun

Lissy at Songo Pond

My sister Ingy and her kids came to visit us last week after Amber and Tommie’s wedding. It was short but sweet and the day they were here was perfect weather for swimming at the lake. I wonder if it’s possible to be angry or sad when you are frolicking in a lake that is perfectly refreshing? I don’t think so. Besides swimming at the lake we showed them downtown Bethel, the view from the top of Paradise Road, the Covered Bridge on Sunday River and Sunday River Ski resort where we watched a few folks fly down the zip line. Then we went to the Swain Farm Stand and picked up some fresh corn for supper that night.

Just some of the family

On Saturday we drove down to Cape Elizabeth to have a family lunch after my nephews Luke and Ezra and their dad Artie had completed the Beach to Beacon road race. We made it back to Bethel in time to catch one of the comedy shows at the first annual Maine Comedy Festival http://mainecomedyfest.com/ which took place right here at the Bethel Inn Conference Center. It was very funny, easy to get to and a perfect way to end the day. Is there any way to make the summer last longer?

Four of a Kind

New Month - New Couple

It’s August and that means Amber and Tommie did it… they got married. It happened on July 30^th and it was an uncharacteristic day for New England in that it was….perfect. No rain, no clouds, not too hot, not too humid….Sunshine and blue skies all day long….how did they pull that one off?

It was nice for me to see both of them plan and put together this beautiful event. It reflected their personalities and their style, it was wonderful. Needless to say it was great to have family get together and also see some of Amber and Tommie’s long time friends. There were two I did not recognize at first probably because I have not seen them since they graduated high school or because I’m just getting old. I’ll let Tommie and Amber share the wedding photos they like with the blogosphere. I just saw some of the photos that Don Watson (Tommie’s Dad) took of the wedding and they are beautiful. Of course any of you reading this who would like to see the great photography of Tommie and Don Watson just need to click on this link http://www.coast2coastimages.com/ and it will take you there.

Anyone who knows Amber and Tommie probably thought that this might have happed awhile ago seeing that they’ve been with each other since 9^th grade and they’re both 28 years old now. But they are planners and sometimes good plans take awhile. Congratulations Amber and Tommie; may desire take you where you want to go.

Mother of the Bride with some of the Beautiful Girls

The Dump is a Good Place to Meet the Locals

Say Hello to Sadie

Of Mussels, Raccoons, and a New Door

It has been a busy July with no signs of slowing down. Recently we had the in-laws stay a few nights and while they were here Lauren cooked up some mussels over the fire pit….Yum! Frank and Joan know about our episodes with critters around the house so we joked that they may get a visitor during the night while they slept. It almost happened. The day after they left we heard this “noise” up in the eave beside the guest bedroom. Armed with a flashlight and a stick I opened the door to this area of our house, looked up in the rafters and saw 4 baby raccoon faces staring down at me. They started moving once I disturbed them so by the time I got the camera I could only get a good picture of this one. To hopefully keep them away we turned on a light, turned on a sports radio talk show and put some ammonia in open bowls….so far, so good which just means…I don’t know where they are now.

I also installed a new insulated fiberglass side entry door to replace the old beat up wood door we had and we stained the deck. Just like putting a little lipstick on a pig. The door was good buy from Marden’s for $149. We also bought a new $8.50 door knob for it but it wasn’t making the grade so we ending up buying an $86.00 door knob that works ten times better, I guess.

I hope your July has been as nice as mine so far.

Early July - 2011

My brother Erik and his family came for a visit over the 4^th of July weekend. It was their first visit since we moved here and first visit ever to Bethel. With the hostess Auntie Lauren organizing you can be sure there is always swimming on the agenda. So between the pool at the Bethel Inn and the lake house at Songo Pond swimming was accomplished. Saturday night (July 2^nd) they shot off the fireworks at the Bethel Inn and we decided to see how the view was from our house. So we lined up the chairs on the front lawn and Wow….what a show. Not only was it easier but it may have even been better viewing. A bonus we did not even know about when we bought this place.

When we were at the lake house on Songo Pond, my sister-in-law Amy and I read on the deck (because we’re so intellectual), Rachel and Lauren went swimming and Erik and Logan went fishing. Of course we did burgers and hot dogs on the grill and sat around the campfire after the fireworks ended. When we were at the Bethel Inn Pool Rachel and Logan enjoyed the Pina Colada’s (virgin) while Becca made sure Erik and I didn’t run out of Molson’s Golden. I say this every summer and I’ll say it again….I Love Summer.

When One Thing Is Connected To Another

Last week when we installed our free granite step it did two things:

1) Make us appreciate our new step

2) Make us realize how bad our driveway and covered porch look

So this week we installed a new gravel driveway. We had a couple of tree stumps which had exposed themselves at the end of the driveway taken out and then Buster from Cross Excavation who plows our driveway in the winter came over and put down the gravel. Initially they dumped a truck load of stone dust mixed with some gravel and spread it around and thought that was what we wanted. I explained that our idea of gravel was different than this and the next morning when he arrived we showed him some pictures of nice gravel driveways that Lauren had pulled from the internet. Looking back we should have done this in the beginning but hey we’re young and still learning, right? So now Buster better understood what we wanted and he did right by us and hauled a few more truckloads of ¾” crushed stone and spent more than ½ of the day spreading it around.

Last spring we had two asphalt paving companies give us an estimate to pave the driveway and they came back with estimates between $6,700 and $8,000 and one of them did not include the tree stump removal. We were quoted $650 for this gravel job complete so I would say we made a good decision. That takes care of the driveway so now on to the covered porch.

How to Move a Large Granite Block (and install a free step)

When we bought this house the steps were a mix of large uneven stones which caused you to step up higher than you normally would and they looked like this:

We knew we had some larger pieces of Granite on site which were sort of symmetrical and decided we could use one of them to make a new step for free. The challenge was how do you move it from where it is to where you want it when you don’t have a bucket loader or backhoe? The answer is you need the following tools:

A big heavy duty crowbar (5 feet long and 18 pounds in weight)

Assorted rocks and blocks

A heavy duty wire cable with a hook on each end

Three steel pipes (all the same diameter is best)

Long wood planks

An Automobile

A cold beer

* I just need to mention here under the Principle that Desire Moves that I did not have the steel pipes I needed, but I KNEW that I could get them for free somehow. Sure enough my Mind’s Eye led me to the pipes I needed at the dump just one day before this project. There they were, just waiting for me in perfect condition and with no cutting required.

First assemble all the tools (excluding the beer) near the piece of granite. For those who have not had much experience using leverage you will learn fast. The longer your lever (crowbar) the easier you can lift heavy objects. Place a smaller stone or block about 4 to 5 inches high very close to the piece of granite and then put your crowbar between them getting the tip of the bar under the granite and then pull or push down on the smaller rock which is known as the fulcrum. Sorry if I’m sounding too technical here for such as Caveman job but I want to help educate fellow Cavemen and women when possible.

Once you get one end of the granite lifted have a helper (carefully) put some blocks under it and then wrap your cable around the granite and hook the other end to your car. If you have a trailer hitch good if not, attach it to the frame under the car. Next, lay one end of a wood plank under the granite and as the driver “very very slowly” moves forward, put the pipe pieces under the block of granite which will now roll along with such ease that you’ll feel like building a pyramid for your next project. As the last pipe rolls out the back of the granite block return it to the front. Turn the planks and the pipes in the direction you want it to go and with a little pushing or pulling she’ll make it to the destination. Our granite block was only 30 feet away from our step but we did have a small incline to get it over initially. It took Lauren and me less than 2 hours to complete the task start to finish and now we have a nice granite step for free. Oh yes, now it’s time for the beer.