9/14-18/20 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 5 days: Monday through Friday.

I started out by having a Senior Moment that lasted four or five hours. I thought I had a telephone conference call scheduled with my insurance agent during which I planned to begin the process of insuring the log home. While I was waiting for the appointed time of 1:00 I did some errands and I loaded the truck.

When the phone call didn't come in, I checked on the insurance agent's website and discovered that I was a week early. The call was scheduled for the next Monday. Feeling very stupid, I hopped in the truck and drove up to the cabin.

I arrived at 4:15 which left no time to get any substantial work done. The air was still very smoky. After my normal moving-in ritual, except for the nap, I went into the woods and irrigated Andrew. That was it for the day.

On Tuesday it had rained substantially overnight, and everything was wet when I got up, but the air was still smoky. Ellen called first thing in the morning and updated me on the contract negotiations she was handling to get a new roof put on our garage in Seattle.

While we were talking, I looked outside and was surprised to see a nice rainbow in the smoky sky. There must have been some rain mixed in with the smoke. The sky cleared somewhat during the day, but eventually settled back to being generally smoky.

In the crawl space, I decided to fix the results of the arithmetic error I had made by moving some of the concrete blocks I had placed on the pad. Since there were only half the number needed to make a full stack three blocks high, I shortened the stack to two layers and had enough to cover most of the pad. I also moved the contents of the pigeonholes formed by the blocks, and of course, the number of pigeonholes was the same as before. They had just moved.

Next, I cleared more of the crawl space floor by taking boards and rocks outside and putting garbage in a garbage bag. Then I went in for lunch and a nap.

Ellen called just as I was dropping off to sleep and had some roofing questions relating to the garage. I sort of got back to sleep after we hung up.

When I got up, I found a nice wood frame with glass that I used to mount the Certificate of Occupancy. Then I hung the mounted certificate back up on the wall where it looks very nice.

Next, I went into the woods to check on Andrew. The dirt was still damp from the rain so I skipped irrigating it.

When I got back to the cabin, I took the wheelbarrow down to a big rock on the upper roadway. I loaded the rock and wheeled it down to the truck so I could bring it to Joe. The rock was much too heavy for me to lift from the wheelbarrow up to the tailgate, so I got a rebar S-hook, a tire chain, a come-along, and a chain hook and used them to lift the rock and slide it up onto the truck bed. That one was definitely a two-man rock.

Next, I selected a smaller, one-man rock, and loaded that into the truck bed alongside the bigger one. Then, thinking they would be useful for unloading the rocks, I left the rigging I had used in place and I loaded the wheelbarrow into the truck bed as well. That wheelbarrow is much more robust than the flimsy one I have in Seattle, so it will work much better for delivering that big rock to Joe.

On Wednesday Robert called first thing and told me that he would be over later to deliver the roasted nuts I had ordered from Tess's nut roasting company.

Back down in the crawl space, I was busy hauling out more boards, rocks, and junk when Robert arrived with the nuts. We had a nice chat while I sampled them. They are delicious and I highly recommend them. Tess's website is www.shopalmondblossom.com .

After lunch and a nap, I went out and checked on Andrew. Again, the ground was too damp to need any additional irrigation, so I skipped it.

Back at the cabin, I did some more tidying up in the crawl space and then quit for the day. While I was relaxing, I saw a tiny lizard on the floor pretty much where the others had been. I caught it and took it out to the front porch where I let him go. Now I am more baffled than ever. I hope someday I figure out how those critters get in.

On Thursday morning it was still smoky. Dave called first thing and we had a great conversation. He helped me make a bunch of choices on what laptop to buy. I am looking forward to doing some serious writing up at the cabin. Ellen's mother, Priscilla, wrote a book when she was 80, so I figure I should be able to do the same.

Instead of working, I spent the rest of the morning listening to the radio and playing the piano. Then I had my lunch and my nap.

When I got up, I irrigated Andrew with 6.5 gallons of water and then called Earl. We had a nice chat as we caught each other up on our activities. I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing a sizeable sheaf of documents related to the log house construction project.

On Friday morning it was still smoky outside. I irrigated Andrew and then did a little cleaning up before I had my lunch. I left for home at 12:45 happy about making the transition from a log home builder to a log home owner and occupier.