6/13-14/17 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 2 days: Tuesday and Wednesday.

It was a nice cool 60° when I arrived at 12:40. When I brought my gear up to the cabin I found one mouse in the trap under the front window and another one in the trap under the kitchen sink. I reset the traps and cleaned up the mess. Then I hoisted the flag, had my lunch, and took a nap.

When I got up, I walked over and checked on Paul. The ground was nice and moist and the tree looked reasonably healthy. Then I went to work on the remaining fourteen short balusters for the Grid 3 railing. Seven of them go between the two lower projecting wall logs and seven of them go between the lower log and the porch deck. I drilled 21 holes in the logs for these balusters. I had already drilled the seven holes in the deck.

Then I made the top 7 balusters one at a time since they are not all the same and each one took some special attention. The balusters are first inserted in the hole above and then lined up to drop down into the lower hole. They are deep enough in the top log so that they can go into the lower holes. Then gravity holds them down in place. They can easily be removed by lifting them up and disengaging the lower end, swinging it out a little, and then disengaging the top. Once they are permanently installed, I can secure them by driving a long finish nail into the log just above the baluster. I'm not sure I will do that but it is an option.

The 7 balusters I made were not cleaned or painted so as soon as I make the other 7, I will take these back out and then clean and paint the whole batch. As it was, I was very pleased that the concept worked and I like how they look. I went in for the night very happy.

On Wednesday morning, Ellen called while I was fixing my breakfast and told me that her mother, Priscilla, had just died. I told her that as soon as I finished breakfast I would pack up and go home. Before I left I took a picture of the 7 short balusters in place. I left for home at 8:40 AM after harvesting 4 long stalks of rhubarb.