7/21-25/25 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 5 days: Monday through Friday.

It was a mild 65 degrees out when I arrived at noon. I carried my gear up in one trip and hoisted the flag. Then I did some unpacking, had my lunch and a nap. When I woke up and got ready to walk, there was a violent thunderstorm, and it rained cats and dogs. I cancelled my walk and practiced the piano instead.

On Tuesday morning, I got up early but was slow to get going. I went to work and wheeled one 60 lb. sack of mortar mix from the truck up to the back stoop. Then I harvested a perfectly shaped big stone. It was perfectly rectangular: 5 inches thick, 9 inches wide, and 17 inches long. It made a heavy wheelbarrow load.

I decided to weigh the stone so that added a lot of complication to the rigging I set up to lift it. Since my scales only went up to 30 lb., I rigged a pulley to double the weight I could measure. I also had trouble with the overhead clearance for the rigging, so I had to re-rig the suspension for the come-along , the scale, and the pulley. Once the rigging was finally all set, the stone came in at 52 lb. My guess of 50 lb. would have been close enough so I am inclined not to weigh any more stones. It wastes too much time.

I mixed up and used mortar batch #147 to lay the big stone in the wall along with a few smaller ones.

After lunch and a nap, I walked to the grave and talked with 3 ladies and a man in a car that stopped. One of the ladies was Karen Arnold. Another, I think, was Frieda Johnson. I don't know the other two people. When I got back, I practiced the piano.

On Wednesday morning, Bill called first thing and let me know that Dave was planning a trip to Camp Serendipity. That was great news.

Next, I went to work and harvested and prepared a bunch of stones and laid them in the wall using mortar batch #148. Then I went in for lunch and a nap. When I got up, I walked to the grave and noticed a big pile of bear scat at the side of the road. When I got back, I filled and staged 8 water jugs.

On Thursday morning, I watered Tiger and then loaded all the water jugs into the truck. Next, I harvested, washed, set up, and then laid up a bunch of stones using batch #149. After lunch and a nap, I walked to the grave and then practiced the piano.

On Friday morning, Dave called first thing and told me that he and Daniella would be visiting the cabin August 18-20. That was great news.

Next week, Ellen is planning on coming up to Camp Serendipity to shoot a video of me laying up stones in the wall. So rather than laying up stones today, I harvested a few stones, washed them, and set them up in the wall dry. That way I can get video scenes of how I mix a batch of mortar and use it in laying up stones. They will already be ready to go.

When that was done, I went into the woods and checked on most of the trees. I skipped John and Larry, but I did climb up and check on Andrew for the first time this summer. The trees are all doing just fine except for Ellen, which is barely hanging on.

Then I went in for lunch and a short nap. When I got up, I packed up to go home after a successful and interesting week. I left for home at 1:00.