7/10-12/18 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

My cold was getting better, but I needed to use nasal spray in order to get up and over the mountains without hurting my ears. I made it OK and arrived at 1:00. I brought my gear up to the cabin, hoisted the flag, and then walked up to the bluff to check on Paul and cedar #11 to make sure the irrigation system was working. It was. The water was running but I saw some leaks in the hose that I thought were a little too big.

Then I went back down to the cabin and had my lunch and a rather long nap. When I got up, I went down to the blackberry patch to see how many ripe berries I could find. There weren't many, but there were a ton of green and red ones. I spent about an hour and didn't even cover the bottom of a yogurt container. It was just too early.

On Wednesday my cold was a lot better and I felt like my energy was returning. After breakfast I went to work on the porch rail. I deepened the mortise hole in the Grid G1 column so it could take in more of the tenon. The way I will fasten the rail is to stick the G1 tenon in an extra two inches which will allow the other end of the rail to be able to enter the G2 mortise hole. Then I will shove the G2 tenon into its mortise hole about 2 inches which will still leave a couple inches of the G1 tenon engaged. That way, I can install balusters with the mortise/tenon joints disengaged and once the balusters are in place the joints can be re-engaged. Then a single retaining screw in the G1 column can hold the whole thing together permanently.

After the rail was in place, I took it back out and marked the underside for the baluster holes. Then I drilled all the holes with the rail lying on the deck upside down. I used my DeWalt drill with the bubble level in it to drill each hole as plumb as I could. The bubble made this relatively easy. Since the mason bees are not active, I figured it was safe to leave the holes untaped. At least I trust that is the case. I replaced the drilled rail into its mortise holes and went in for lunch and another fairly long nap.

When I got up, I carried water to cedar #12, Dan, Brian, and Andrew. I had to carry it from near the privy because the section of hose running from there to Dan was missing. It was being used down below. Next, I used duct tape to try to seal up a couple of the bigger leaks in the hoses. That restored all the drips for the cedar trees.

Before I quit for the day, I went back down to the berry patch, but I found only four more ripe berries. I added them to the small collection I already had.

On Thursday morning Dave called right after breakfast. I didn't realize it but while we were talking, Robert stopped in and took some equipment of his that he needed. He left again without me noticing.

I intended to change the plumbing arrangement for next week because I won't be going up to Camp Serendipity and the loggers might be working and needing water down below. The way it was, the main discharge valve in the cabin was all the way off. That provides maximum pressure to the irrigation system, but it cuts off the water down below. That's what happened last week.

My plan was to take a valve out of the hose down below and move it right up to the copper supply pipe. That would prevent water leaking out of the leaks in the hose down below, and I expected that it would provide plenty of pressure up above when it was closed.

To test the theory, I first went up to inspect the flow without changing the main discharge valve. As I expected, all the cedars were being watered fine. Then I went down below and moved the valve to the copper pipe and closed it. Then, I opened the main discharge valve in the cabin.

In my trips down and up the roadway, I checked for more ripe berries and found another handful. Then I went back up on the bluff to check the irrigation. As I hoped, it was functioning perfectly. I was now ready for the loggers. It was only 9:30 so I took another nap.

When I got up, I vacuumed the first floor of the cabin. Then Robert called to tell me that he had been there earlier, and I explained that I had been on the phone and had missed him. I also told him about the new plumbing arrangement and that he would have water simply by opening the valve on the copper pipe. He told me that he had hurt his ankle and was hobbling around in a considerable amount of pain. He expected it to get better though. After we hung up, I had my lunch, packed up, and left for home at 12:50. I used nasal spray for the trip home because the elevation drop is much more severe. Again, I made it OK.