Construction Journal Entry Week of 1/17/21

1/18-21/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for four days, Monday through Thursday.

The traffic was light, and the weather was clear going over the pass. I arrived at 11:30 and saw that there had been little to no new snow and the driveway had not been plowed since I had been in there. I thought I might be able to drive to the hairpin turn but halfway there I got good and stuck. I couldn't go forward or back. So, I got the scoop shovel out and dug the snow away from behind each of the tires and then I was able to back out.

I backed out in my old tracks all the way to the road. Then I turned the truck around and backed back in over the same tracks. I parked in the usual spot at the foot of the concrete stairs.

I brought my gear up the stairs to the cabin in one trip. I hoisted the flag, built a fire in the stove, and had my lunch and a nap. When I got up, I found a lockset that was left over from when I had replaced the one on the back door. I looked in the box and was happy to discover there was a brand new bolt that I hadn't used.

I took the knobs off the front door. Then I replaced it using the new bolt and fixed the problem. That was easy.

Next, I got the scoop shovel and tried to chip the frozen snow away from a few steps but it was frozen too hard so I gave up on that. I got a rope and dragged 3 rounds of firewood down from the woodshed in two trips.

On Tuesday I practiced the piano and listened to the radio. The weather was sunny and a cold 24 degrees. The snow was still frozen too hard to shovel so I dragged a bunch more firewood down from the woodshed and split and stacked it. Then I went to work on a pair of safety glasses that had broken, and I fixed them good enough to wear.

After lunch and a nap, I anchored a loose baluster at the head of the loft stairs that was loose because of the error I had made in sawing off the wrong baluster. I anchored it with another finish nail driven up beside it. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing.

On Wednesday morning I hoisted the flag inverted at half-staff. Then I practiced the piano and listened to the radio. I did a little work on my wood sculpture and then did some vacuuming.

After lunch and a nap, I shoveled the front steps and the legal landing. I wanted Ellen to be able to use the front door when she comes up on the weekend and the steps were nearly blocked by snow. Next, I hauled some more firewood down from the woodshed and spent the rest of the afternoon reading.

On Thursday morning Dave called first thing and we had a long, interesting conversation. Then I practiced the piano and got ready to leave for home. Ellen and I are coming up to the cabin on Saturday so I was going to leave early to have an extra day to get ready. I left for home at 11:30.



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