2/24-26/15 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

On the way I dropped some material off at our tax accountant and then proceeded on to visit with Uncle Charles. I helped him get dressed and then we went for a walk around the garden.

The weather was warm and sunny. I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 1:30. After moving my gear in, having lunch and a nap, I went to work on the ceiling project. I dismantled the 2-tier scaffold tower and stacked the frames, cross-braces, and planks out of the way.

I built a fire in the wood stove and was delighted to find that the ceiling fan, which was now unimpeded by the scaffold deck that used to be under it, was so effective that the temperature in the loft stayed comfortable in spite of the heat of the stove.

On Wednesday I started a fire in the stove. Then, just as the phone was ringing, I saw a small rodent on the floor. I tried to get a yogurt container quick enough to trap the little animal before I answered the phone but I wasn't successful at either catching the critter or answering the phone.

The little guy was no bigger than a golf ball, was just about as round as a golf ball, and chocolate brown in color. I think it must have been a shrew. The phone rang again, and it was Ellen. Then I saw the little animal again and followed him to a corner of the bedroom where he disappeared, evidently down into the crawl space. I think they get in down there through tunnels in the cracks in the bedrock.

I went down to the crawlspace to check on the mousetrap down there. It had not sprung but the bait was gone. I re-baited it and reset it. While I was down there, I removed the Styrofoam blocks in the vent openings so that it could dry out down there. I don't think there is any more risk of freezing in the crawlspace this season.

Next I moved the furniture out of the dining room and set the table up at the foot of the staircase. I took the last leaf out of it so it is a lot smaller. I'll eat and watch my DVDs there until the ceiling over the dining room is finished.

I set up a 2-tier scaffold tower in the dining room using the frames, cross-braces, and planks I had set aside.

For some time I had been thinking that I should install another light in the loft ceiling over the Grid A.5,2.5 area. There is a temporary light hanging from the rafters there now that I use to light up the model of Mt. Rainier National Park, but once the ceiling is installed, it will not be easy to put the light back up without it looking tacky. Furthermore, the dining room could use more light than the wagon wheel fixture puts out.

After thinking about it some more, I decided to install another light up there to illuminate both the loft and the dining room. I went down to the crawlspace and selected a piece of wire that I thought would work. I brought it up and laid it out and found that it was just long enough to reach over to Box B in the Grid A1 corner of the loft ceiling.

Next, I set up a 1-tier scaffold tower in the Grid A.5,2.5 section of the loft. Then I dismantled the bridge from the ladders against the Grid 1 wall and the existing 1-tier tower, and moved the existing tower over to the Grid 1 wall and between the Grid A wall and the Grid B purlin.

The scaffold deck on the top of the dining room tower was at just the right working height. But the scaffolds in the loft were too high to use the tops of the frames for the deck. So I installed 2x6s crosswise on each of the four frames to support a deck at a lower level. I used rebar hooks and chains to support the 2x6s. I now had scaffolding under the entire Grid A1-B3 section of the ceiling which is all that remains to do.

After lunch and a nap, I counted how many ceiling boards I needed to finish the job. I needed 32 16-footers. Then I counted how many boards I have and there were only 29 of them. I decided that on my next trip up, I will try to buy 4 more boards. That will give me one extra for miscalculations.

I spent the rest of the afternoon splitting up a bunch of firewood. During the night, my right forearm caused me a lot of pain. I had hurt my arm a week and a half earlier and instead of healing and feeling better, it seemed to get steadily worse. During one of the pain episodes, I also developed a nosebleed. I am sure the warfarin I am taking is responsible not only for the nosebleed but for the bruising around my injury. I decided to go back and see the doctor for a second time about my arm.

On Thursday morning, Robert called me first thing just to touch bases. He said he intended to come and finish the job, but he said it in rather vague terms so I am not sure what to expect. He also invited me to come watch him play in a pool tournament in Tacoma this coming Saturday.

After getting a fire going and having breakfast, I started stringing the wire from Box B up along the rafter and up to the Grid B purlin. I was able to push the insulation up enough to allow me to staple the wire to the rafter web and then pull the insulation back down again.

When I reached the purlin, I was happy to find that I can reach up behind the insulation and remove knockouts in the rafter webs using just a screwdriver. That way I can run the wire through the holes and through the insulation. I did 5 of the 15 rafters I need to do before I quit for the day. I left for home at 1:15 happy with my progress and with my plan for the new light.