11/1-5/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I arrived at 11:40. The temperature was 30 degrees, and it was dry although a little gloomy. I brought my gear up in one trip, hoisted the flag, built a fire, and then had my lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I took the wheelbarrow down to the truck and hauled five heavy bags of yard waste over to the compost pile. Then I used the wheelbarrow to bring a heavy lump of clay I got for free, up to the cabin. I will use that lump for some kind of sculpture project. Next, I split some firewood, and then removed the cleats from the old flagpole that broke and stored the pole on the log rack by the back porch.

On Tuesday the weather was cold and gloomy again. It was a good day to work inside. I practiced the piano, listened to the radio, and then used a hammer and chisel to dress the masking tape on the seam I had mudded on the bedroom side of the joint. Then I scraped and sanded the mud to get it ready for paint.

After lunch and a nap, I finished sanding the mud, vacuuming the mess, and then painting the joint.

On Wednesday it was 30 degrees outside and dry, but it ended up raining parts of the day anyway. After practicing the piano, and listening to the radio, I removed the tape from the bedroom side of the seam. I was happy with how the seam looked. I moved the furniture back to its original place and then took a picture of the finished seam.

After lunch and a short nap, I split a couple rounds of old seasoned wood. I had been burning the vine maple wood, but it is not quite seasoned so I'm going to switch to the seasoned wood to see if it burns better. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing and reading.

In the evening when I took my shower, I discovered that having the two seams plugged up in the bathroom walls makes a big difference. I never needed to turn on the fan before when I showered, but now the bathroom gets steamy. From now on I will need to turn the fan on when I shower. It convinced me more than ever that I don't want to close up that gap behind the refrigerator.

On Thursday morning I overslept. I was lying awake in bed at 7:00 o'clock when Dave called, and I had a delightful one-hour conversation with him before I even got out of bed. After practicing the piano, I scraped the top of the bathroom seam, which I had mudded for 18 inches or so. I got that small section ready for paint before lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I mudded the rest of the seam in the bathroom, but it was very difficult. I could barely reach the lower part of the seam with my left hand using a small mud knife and I could hardly see what I was doing. Also, I had trouble getting the mud consistency right and it didn't go on smoothly. I was really not very happy with the result although it's behind the cabinet and hard to see. I can still improve it somewhat, though, with some scraping and sanding.

On Friday morning I practiced the piano, and then started scraping the mud I had applied the day before. That was hard to do because of the inaccessibility. But at least I got a start on it. I left for home at 12:45 without serving on jury duty. I had been called for jury duty and the instructions were that if I didn't receive another call by Wednesday afternoon my obligation was discharged.