4/5-7/11 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at noon. There was lots of snow at the pass, especially where it had avalanched, but there was nothing but mud on the driveway at Camp Serendipity. In fact there was so much mud I had to use 4wd to get parked.

I started a fire in the wood stove and set the thermostats up. Then I unloaded a bunch of brush and trimmings I had brought with me and stacked it on the compost pile. Then I unloaded a bunch of big fir branches that had been trimmed from the big fir trees in our yard in Seattle. The tree service would have chipped them up, but I asked if I could take them for firewood. I made a big stack of them in the parking area. Then I went in for lunch.

After lunch, I cut some boards to make parts to finish off the ceiling of the linen closet, and while I was out on the porch sawing, Bert and Ernie came by. I had two trays of left-over gravy so they had biscuits and gravy again along with their hugs. They were happy dogs.

With the boards cut, I went back inside and finished the linen closet ceiling and pantry shelf, which was item #47 on my list.

On Wednesday I started out by re-installing the gate log. The damage to the top of the log was minimal. A chunk was torn out of the end, but it won't have any effect on the gate or its integrity.

Terry Hagen called at 9:15 telling me that he was just leaving Leavenworth. While I was waiting for him, I polished off item #31 which was to remove the face of the washer box in the utility room. Terry drove up at about 10:00.

We spent most of the morning discussing how the kitchen cabinets would fit in with the overhead beams and how the soffit should be built. I also asked him to design a cabinet for over the freezer and a vanity for the bathroom. I still need to get back to him on what configuration of doors and drawers we want on the bathroom vanity.

After talking about the soffit in the kitchen for quite a while, we came to the conclusion that the best way to do it would be to use pine boards for the soffit and for the 10 inches or so of ceiling between the soffit and the short loft beam. That would greatly simplify the drywall job. I decided to use the same tongue and groove pine boards that I will use for the vaulted ceilings.

Terry told me that I need to go to the Canyon Creek showroom in Monroe between 9 and 4 some weekday, ask for Paul, and decide on the style, wood species, and shade for the cabinets. Then Terry would place the order, and I could pick the cabinets up in my truck in Monroe and haul them myself.

After Terry left, I called Marson and Marson and placed an order for some 2500 board feet of the 1x8 pine boards I will use for the ceilings. They will be delivered next Wednesday morning, April 13.

Just as I was finishing my lunch, Bill called. We had a long talk about his business, which is having trouble with the building slump, and we talked about cabinets and doors. In order to help us decide on what to buy for doors, cabinets, and even light fixtures and plumbing fixtures, he agreed to take Ellen and me to a showroom someplace so we could see the actual merchandise and he could explain the various options to us. That was a great offer that I was happy to accept.

And, just as I got off the phone with Bill, Earl knocked on the front door. He hadn't been in the cabin since the insulation and heating system had been installed. We had a nice visit talking about his health, which is surprisingly good, the weather, my various building problems and concerns, and a few other topics. He recommended Gary Graham from Plain as an excellent carpenter, who is also very busy, and Dave Leonard, a carpenter from Wenatchee.

Before Earl left, Phil Leatherman knocked on the door and told me that he had come by to get a couple jugs of water. He got his water and left before Earl and I finished our visit.

After Earl left, I didn't feel like working, so I had some fun spending an hour or so working out the math for a scheme to survey the property using distance measurements only. I would like to make an accurate topo map of the property, and I have considered many different ways to do it over the past several years. This was just another method.

On Thursday morning, Earl called and told me that he had discussed my hanging cabinet and soffit questions with Gary Graham and he had gotten some advice. He said that my idea of using althread wouldn't work very well, but that steel straps hanging from the joists could be made to work. I'll discuss those kinds of options with the people at Canyon Creek when I go there.

After the call, I went to work and finished items #24 and #7 which were to remove the door chime and to make cardboard templates for coping the drywall around the beam above the inner entry room door. I left for home at 12:30 feeling good about the week's progress, and a little apprehensive about next week's lumber delivery. That's going to be a lot of boards.