Construction Journal Entry Week of 6/2/24

6/3-7/24 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I arrived at 11:30 during an atmospheric river that was producing intermittent rainstorms. There happened to be a break in the rain when I arrived. I brought my gear up in one trip, hoisted the flag, and then had my lunch and a nap.

It started raining again but not too hard. I wheeled two sacks of mortar mix up to the cabin in two trips with the wheelbarrow. I had placed the sacks in kitchen garbage bags when I bought them, to keep them dry and it worked pretty well. I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing the piano.

On Tuesday morning I started by practicing the piano and then listening to the radio for a while. There was intermittent rain again, but I walked to the grave and didn't get too wet. I listened to the radio for a while and then had my lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I mixed one batch of mortar and laid up a few stones in the wall. The rain came and went during the day, but I didn't get too wet.

On Wednesday it was sunny all day. I practiced the piano then listened to the radio and then walked to the grave. I had an early lunch and nap and when I got up, I harvested a beautiful stone from just beyond the front porch. I was able to roll it down the hill and get it into the wheelbarrow. From there I wheeled it over to the wall and used a skyhook and a come-along to help me place it in the wall. I mixed a batch of mortar and used it to mortar the dangling stone plus a couple others.

In the evening a mosquito was buzzing around when I was getting ready for bed, so I decided to set up the mosquito tent over the bed for the year. I had to make a new anchor for the log wall, which I did with some wire. I didn't do a very good job. The anchor failed in the middle of the night and let the tent fall down on me. So, I got up and built a much better anchor using a screw and then went back to bed after setting the tent back up.

On Thursday morning Dave called and we had another delightful conversation. Then I practiced the piano, listened to the radio, and walked to the grave. After lunch and a nap, I tackled another even bigger huge, nice stone from beyond the front porch. I used a big crowbar to help me move it and I moved it downhill some amount. But I realized that it was bigger than I could handle, and I gave up. I turned my attention to some smaller stones which I placed in the wall using the 50th batch of mortar.

In the afternoon, just before dinner, Robert called, and we caught up on our activities.

On Friday I started by practicing the piano, and then I walked to the grave. On the way I talked with Mike Dickinson who happened to be driving by. I hadn't seen him for a long time, and it was good to chat with him. When I got back, I had my lunch and a short nap. I left for home at about 1:00. It was another fun productive week.



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