After this Spring’s herculean efforts of one Mr. Ralph Kerr to rebuild part of the roof while still on the mend from spine and hip surgery — whilst sustaining a high ankle sprain on the first day of this major repair mind you — it was time to step away for a bit. Grounding him from his aerial stunts provided opportunities also for getting grounded and reconnected with the more important parts of life outside of this epic project. With injuries mostly behind him and the accessibility of vaccination in front of us all — it was way past time to meet up again with family n friends. First up was an incredible May visit with both of our daughters home at the same time. For June, we ventured to the wild west where forgetting the list of to do’s was easily accomplished by staring at the ocean. The sound of the tide rolling in and out carried our exhaustion and angst out to sea. The hiatus has been good for us. Upon return we've discovered it’s also been good for the deer who have taken to bedding down in the tall silky grasses. They will not be pleased once we find the weed whacker and get ourselves up and going again in the continued quest to make this lodge livable.
Attempting to avoid the overwhelm of it all, it is always a good idea to step back and take stock of what HAS happened before contemplating what needs to happen next. So many critical yet invisible things are well underway. Water management has/is the first priority — a much longer tale to tell about the 30,000 gallon green plastic tank buried just under where these plastic purple Adirondack chairs are sitting. This cistern feeds into the labyrinth of pvc pipes R has engineered to move the collected water in and through the underside of the house to empty out the back side. It exists AND IT WORKS! How’s THAT for some progress!
Also coming into focus is my very intricate art project of resurrecting the beautiful red cedar siding to its more natural state. Talk about hidden beauty. But creosote is not easily coaxed out of it’s fibers no matter how dormant and diluted it has become through the ages. You’d never hire someone to do this project as it is very slow process with many stages. However, since I cannot really spend too much time inside until we’ve annihilated the mold, mildew and and excessive amounts of dust — it has been the perfect way for me to make a meaningful contribution to the restoration of this place’s charm and character. Plus I ADORE the power washer. All fodder for a longer conversation in another post.
What is important at this point in time is to know that we are making a dent — and a discernable difference. Perhaps I shall leave the plastic purple Adirondacks where they are so that we might remember to sit down, see the progress and enjoy the view. The tides of change are finally becoming visible!
