Saturday, November 9, 2013

Chapter 13 - An In-Between Update


First, we would like to inform you that we have lost an important member of our team.  In 2011, Chip rigged up an ad-hoc hummingbird feeder with a Gulden's mustard jar, the bottom of an old feeder and electrical wire.  Sadly, we discovered that it developed a crack that couldn't be salvaged when we visited in July.

 
We rooted around the property and found another feeder to replace our old friend, so you can breathe a sigh of relief that we are not without entertainment.  We went up in July for a legitimate vacation and wanted to share with you some of the other fun pastimes around town.

Schroon Lake 4th of July Parade and Fireworks

There is nothing better than a small town parade.  Some floats threw candy, others threw beads, but the best floats tossed out Frisbees printed with their business info.  Brilliant!  Later after the parade ended, there were hoards of young folks throwing these Frisbees around the town park while waiting for the fireworks to start.  The fireworks display was a nice show over Schroon Lake.

Ausable Club 4th of July Fireworks (St. Huberts/Keene Valley)

Imagine laying your blanket down on the golf course, sipping your beverage of choice, while watching a fireworks show that knocks your socks off.  The golf course is surrounded by several High Peaks that capture and echo the booming sound of the show, the shells explode so close overhead that you feel like you can reach out and touch them.

Not your average movie (Lake Placid and Schroon Lake)

Want a throw-back movie experience, including throw-back prices?  Take in a flick at The Palace or The Strand before they’re gone.  There are heavy red velvet curtains, gilded gold moldings, glittering marquees and movies on FILM.  The movie industry is changing and these theaters need to convert to the new digital technology or risk going dark.  Read more about their transition here:  Go Digital or Go Dark Campaign



Hiking in North Hudson

Hiking to Moose Mountain Pond was the best hiking experience we’ve had to date.  A waterfall greeted us shortly into the hike and the final destination was absolutely beautiful with creature comforts that would make an overnight stay a little less like camping (outhouse!).  Round trip – 6.4 miles.

 
 


This is just a short list of things that we did on our vacation and there is so much more!  We’ll eventually tackle it all and share it with you here.  We hope that you’ll join us someday to experience it for yourself.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Chapter 12 - Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder


While we are terrible at keeping up with this blog, we have been religiously recording our experience in this little book. 
 
When we’re in the midst of the episodes we share with you here, it is sometimes hard to find the humor in the situation.  However, re-reading it a year later, after the wounds have healed (both mental and physical), we can laugh.  That’s a good thing.
Now, let’s recap the summer of 2012.  The four of us began the trip full of optimism and hope.  Armed with a plan.  A dry well was not part of our plan.  That took our energy, knocked us down, kicked us a little bit…we wish it would have spit on us too.  That would have been somewhat like a shower that we hoped to take.  Eventually got it licked and began our project in earnest.  One of the first things we did was go to visit Renae’s family.  They were downsizing and offered us the majority of the furniture and odds and ends in their home.  We trucked the goodies back to our place and used the furniture to make our living quarters more comfortable.  There was also a pumpkin bread kit that we made up after a particularly grueling day.  The smell of pumpkin bread baking can fix anything. 

Unfortunately, Dennis was only with us for a week so all he got to work on was the well.  Actually, that’s not completely true, he also had time to improve our household situation.  One night after we discovered that a Damp-Rid container in our pantry would have been a good idea, he helped make garlic bread by sawing the top and bottom off the garlic powder container and grating the brick that it had become back into a powder. You can call us crazy, but you can’t call us quitters.
Chip, Renae and I got to work on finishing the double cabin the second week in.  We insulated the floor and laid a new sub-floor while the three of us were there.  After Renae and I went home, Chip finished the drywall, applied texture to the walls and ceiling, painted, laid the slate in the kitchen and bath, installed and finished the wood flooring, made a vanity and kitchen cabinet.  By himself.

We had a tough row to hoe in the summer of 2012, but when we look back at all that was accomplished in spite of the initial stumbles, it turned out OK.  This upcoming weekend we’re getting together to sketch out our plan for the summer of 2013.  I know what you’re thinking: “We read this blog.  Why bother with a plan?”  The Cynical Sally in us sometimes feels the same way, then we come back to the old adage, “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.”  In our case, it should probably be “Make a Plan, Plan to Make Significant Adjustments.” 

And that’s OK too.