Renovations and Chipmunks: June 2011 in Pictures

Ancient artwork inside the bedroom walls...

 Feeding the great-grand-chipmunks of the ones Grandma Connor used to feed.

 Making do until the kitchen is finished...

Connemara North Updates

June 25, 2011
More rain and cold weather. Put heat on for a little while so I could take a shower without freezing. When I got up at 6 a.m., the outdoor thermometer registered 52. No fans again today.

Shortly after 9 a.m. the carpenter showed up with the tiles for the kitchen floor and lots of wood for repairs and for the wall. He began working repairing the boards which had been damaged by the leak in the roof and then laid the new floor. He laid a thin plywood board all over the floor and then applied glue and put down the tile. It looks great!

Before he could work we had to move the refrigerator into the living room?! Not much room left to move around. The kitchen is empty so every other room is not.

But one of these days, it will be more back to normal.

The carpenter worked until mid-afternoon and told us we couldn’t use the room for 6 hours and should not return the cabinets or refrigerator for two days. Turns out it may be longer because the wall when it is installed will need three days of sizing treatment. The sanding leaves fine residue so we probably will have to wait to move back into the kitchen. Some fun.

Lowell and I went to Lowe’s and picked out the wall vinyl but found we couldn’t get it in the car. Too long. Left it for the carpenter to pick up Monday or Tuesday.

We decided cooking was too much with the carpenter working in the kitchen so we picked up pizza on the way back from Lowe’s.

John and Peter went fishing and caught some bass which they did not keep. Lots of good fishing with the rain.

The wood was so wet they did not have a fire tonight and did not stay out too late.

I had planned to go to Mass today but with the work on floor and getting the vinyl, we decided to wait until tomorrow.

No sign of the skunk but we added more ammonia to the rags around the camp.We were worried the chipmunks would be affected by the ammonia but they were out looking for peanuts bright and early.

The forecast for tomorrow is showers and some sun.

No matter, everyday is a great day on the lake in Maine. Thank you God for creating such beauty and letting us use it.

June 26, 2011  Sunday at Maine Camp


Lowell and I were up at 5:30 a.m. and it turned out it was a good thing. A little after 8 a.m. the electrician drove into the yard and said he was going to do the work on reconnecting the kitchen outlets and getting ready to reinstall sink so we could begin to use the kitchen as soon as the wall is finished. I had just finished cleaning the wall of debris from the walls and roofing when he arrived. He informed us the carpenter was not far behind and the two worked most of the morning. We left them here when we left for Mass and they were gone when we returned at 1:30. The insulation and wallboard were up and the electrical boxes were in the wall. The sink connecting piping was not installed so I guess they will be back one of these days. Both have prior jobs Monday and Tuesday so it could be several days before we see them again. And then maybe not.

The roofers may come tomorrow since we had only a little rain tonight. But they can’t work if the membrane is not dry. It will take two days once they begin to lay it.

We had a great treat today watching a family of loons float down the cove and into the lake. The pair surrounded two young loons who last week were riding on the backs of the mother but are now swimming. They were out front of the camp for sometime and then floated down to BeatleBug. They were distressed by the water skiers and skidoos riding close to their location and made shrill calls to alert the babies to stay close. We watched them trying to cross the lake to Horseshoe Island but they finally moved back to Clarke’s cove and then back into Farr’s Cove. We notified the game warden of the harassment by the skidoos and water skiers but couldn’t see numbers on the vehicles so he couldn’t do anything at this point.

They were still upset this evening and they may be worried about the turtles or the Osprey who also have young they are raising. Already the Osprey has taken three chipmunks to their nest.

Peter went out fishing for awhile but John stayed and fished off the dock. I didn’t even try to fish today because of all the boat activity on the lake. No respectable fish would come to the surface with the boaters out on the lake on weekends.

We were able to dry some of clothes which were damp as well as towels and rugs which I washed. Still washing dishes on the two stools on the porch. Not the easiest or most efficient way to do it.

Tomorrow will be day 16 of shifting and being creative with meals and all. We are getting along okay but it is somewhat frustrating not knowing where things are and having to keep moving things to make room for things while the work is done. We try to sweep and clean up as best we can but it doesn’t look like we have. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have the stove hooked up on the porch. Thank God for the electrician and his idea to run the temporary line so we could use the stove. Too bad we couldn’t hook up the sink but we are managing after a fashion.

The chipmunks have developed a routine of coming up to the screen on the sliding door early each day to wait for breakfast. Today we also fed the pair who live in front of Paul and Linda Voyer’s camp. They were delighted to be included. Usually they come over here when they see us feeding the ones under our camp but our two tend to chase them away.

No sings of humming birds in all the rain but the woodpeckers continue to come and peck on the pine and birch tree. John W. put up my woodpecker feeder and the smaller one was feeding at it two mornings until the squirrels and even a chipmunk climbed up and started eating.

Didn’t do much today other than finish touchup on sink doors and painting the bottom panels to get ready to move the sink back into the kitchen. John W. is reinforcing the shelf under the sink with sheets of aluminum left over when we roofed the porch and kitchen roofs in 2002-2004. The shelf was rusted badly in several places and we hope by using the aluminum we can save the shelf and store the cleaners etc. there. The sink itself is in pretty good shape and the electrician-plumber wants us to get new faucets because he said the one on it was leaking pretty badly when he was checking it out before he disconnected the pipes. He already installed new faucets in bathroom when he fixed the leak under the bathroom sink. What a difference it makes in the sink.

I have flowers sitting in their containers waiting to plant but didn’t get to them today. I waited until the roofers finished tearing off the old roof and then the rains came and they are still in the containers from the greenhouse. We did get the daisies in last week up on the terrace.

Better get to bed. Lowell has been dozing in his new chair which he really likes. I thank God he didn’t make me send it back. I probably would not have ordered it if I waited until we got here and saw all that had to be done but I ordered it a month ago when I discovered a sale with no shipping if ordered by May 20. We still haven’t figured out where to put the wood rocker but maybe we can use it on the deck and cover it in bad weather. Not a priority at this point. It sits with other chairs at the far end of the porch where the two new beds are. We will have to get the chairs out of there before the grandkids come in July.

The loons are talking out in front of the dock. I hope the babies are OK. They seem to be louder than usual. What a great place to be with all the creatures and sounds around the lake.

Thank you God for Maine Camp and for the people who are helping us keep it standing.

~ Grandma Joan T.

As If We Needed Another Reason To Love MaineCamp

I don't know about you, but for many of us in the old tackle box, this is what it's all about. ~Hula

Cepan lands a monster.

Photo compliments of JTW IV.

More John Waldeyer Photography - June 2011

Linda Voyer's flowers

                                                                  Some angry birds.

                   Really old pictures found after ripping out one of the walls damaged by the roof leak.

                                                 Under the cattails near the causeway.

                                                  Farr's Cove, looking toward Beetle Bog.

Connemara North To Get Green Roofs.....

June 14, 2011:
20th Anniversary of Dad Connor’s arrival in heaven...

Changes are on the way at Connemara North as we contracted for a green (little lighter than hunter green shade) roof over the two almost flat roofs over the kitchen and porch today. The roofs were last replaced in 2002 and 2003 by crews led by Adam and helped by Kim, Ed, Andrew, Mat, and others.

The roof over the kitchen has been a source of water leaks for the past three years and we thought we had found the source and fixed them but we were very wrong. So, before we can restore the kitchen and middle bedroom which were damaged by water which was collected in walls and ceiling, we need to fix the roof. We are blessed to have found a dear, dear electrician who initially discovered the water damage when he prepared to install the line for the planned purchase of an electric stove. He works with numerous contractors one of whom is a roofer and had just finished his roof which was damaged by ice block during the winter. This roofer was a classmate of the electrician from grade school and was best man in his wedding.

We had two others look at the roofs before we hired the firm that will give us a GREEN roof to top off our Army green exterior and Connemara green porch. It will be delightful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It better be, it is costing a lot of pennies….

We also got the stove connected on the porch today so we were able to cook supper for the first time since we arrived. It will stay there until we get the kitchen floor redone. Hopefully, we will be able to move it back before we leave for Red Sox-Phillies game end of June...

Today the electrician arrived at 6:30 a.m. to begin work on installing 220 line for stove and do some rewiring in kitchen. He installed three wall units above the counter in kitchen to separate all the appliances which had been feeding at the same outlet. He previously redirected the power on the porch so we have independent lines and wall switches. He put a switch for the light over the counter when he installed the new units. We now can plug in toaster, toaster oven, coffee maker etc. without resetting breakers on fuse box. He will return when we get kitchen wall cleaned up to install grounded wall socket for microwave and set up sockets for spotlight and light over sink.

His father runs the marine repair shop on Route 126, Larrabbee which survived dad’s motors for boats and has taken care of the camp motor for 20 years. He is a master electrician and had training as a plumber. Soooo while he was here, I had him trouble shoot the drip under the bathroom sink and he ended up rebuilding the drain system and installed new faucets. The pipes under the bowl were rotted out and could not hold a tight seal.

At 7 a.m., the carpenter (another good friend and contractor friend of electrician) came in to take off paneling in middle bedroom to check for water damage. He was only here 45 minutes and headed out to another job.

At 8:30 a.m., the environmental engineer arrived to assess mold/water levels and amount of, if any, asbestos in the flooring.

Tomorrow the company comes in to pump out the septic tank. We have not had it done for two years and we decided to have it done before all the grandkids arrive in July. Hopefully that will prevent any problems like we had in past years.

We have plans to upgrade the septic system but this year’s adventure with the kitchen and roofs will delay that consideration for at least another year if not longer.

Tomorrow we also will pick up the motor for the boat so Mat and John can go fishing if they can get the boat in the lake. Paul Voyer is allowing us to tie the boat at his old ramp until the dock arrives, hopefully end of week.

As I sit on porch with Lowell playing solitaire after playing Cribbage with Mat and John Waldeyer, the rain is falling softly on the camp. Water is again dripping into the buckets in the kitchen. Ah, rain in Maine is so much fun. I always like to hear the raindrops on porch roof. Wish they wouldn’t rain on the kitchen roof.

No matter the mess and problems, this is a grand place and I thank Mom and Dad Connor for finding this in 1973. I also thank God He made it possible for me to buy it and I thank Lowell for helping me keep it.

Maybe not this year, but camp is here for the visiting.

Grandma Joan

Photographs are compliments of JTW the 4th

Welcome Back!!! June 2011 ...For Mold Time's Sake...

Good morning people from the great State of Maine:

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

This is June 11, if my memory is correct. I am sitting on the porch overlooking Cobbosseecountee Lake in an overcast morning with a cup of microwave heated coffee in a hopefully microwave safe cup.

The microwave is our only source of food cooking for now as we await some resolution of a major mold problem in the kitchen as result of multiple leaks in the roof over the past two or three years, which we did not obviously completely fix.

When we arrived the stove and sink were (and still are) sitting in middle of the floor … DISCONNECTED…the wall was (and still is) open to the frame and a mess is everywhere…

The electrician we had working in camp was preparing to install a line for the possible electric stove, when he discovered the walls and floor were damp. He ended up becoming a laborer and pulled out the sheetrock and insulation (which is in multiple bags on porch) and waited for us to come. He was a blessing because I called the insurance company we had just cancelled and they sent an Adjuster who agrees it is still their responsibility up to a point and will cover some of the restoration.

We are somewhat in a “What do we do now and how do we do it” mode as we speak. We wandered around like two zombies yesterday but feel a bit less hopeless (or at least I do) as we greet the day on somewhat fretful sleep. Sure is not a calamity it could be and we are not terminal and can still walk, and talk, and laugh so all is going to be fine eventually, we know…I hope.

In meantime I am not so sure how we will be. I went down to 202 to find something to bring back for dinner at 8:30 last night and the pizza place was closed, the place that serves lobster sandwiches was out of lobster meat for sandwiches, so I bought a not so good pizza and a bottle of wine. (No we didn’t drink all the wine).

I heard most of the last four innings of Phillies win in car while waiting for Pizza and then after I got back to camp and we ate….

Dad was about wiped out after unloading the car mostly while I wandered around trying to get things so we could settle our bedroom. He ran the vacuum cleaner over bedroom floor, walls and windows to collect creatures and dust and stuff from winter and we cleared our way to put in screen on sliding door on porch. We had gotten in camp around 2:30 p.m. and insurance Adjuster was already here and we spent over an hour trying to assess how bad … or less bad... it was. That alone tired us even more because the amount of work here is such we will be lucky to get things finished before we leave the end of month.

The damage involves having mold people come and finish taking out any remnants of mold and cleaning frame, pulling up flooring, cleaning floor boards and restoring floor???? Installing insulation and sheet rock on wall along side wall facing road in kitchen, reinstalling sink (we have decided to repair it since they don’t make them any more and to have one made would cost umpteen more bucks than we have after we do everything that has to be done here just to exist) …

By now Adam must be smiling and thinking, ”I warned you Joan. Knock down and rebuild looks good to me.”  But he also can know now how I just can’t accept that option … at least not yet…. Well now, after we finished assessing the kitchen, we went into bedroom adjoining the kitchen and the water had seeped into the ceiling sooooooo we have to have the ceiling to replace and maybe the wall……..??????????????????

AND when we went outside the Adjuster said we need to have the roof which Adam and crew put on in 2003 replaced and that definitely is not part of any insurance coverage debate… It’s part of maintenance and he said the rolled roofs in Maine last at best 8 to 10 years… sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Where to begin?

The Electrician came in last night to bring us up to date on the fancy lighting and real electrical service on the porch to replace the myriad of extension cords which ran everything on porch including the refrigerator….. We now have five ceiling lights which operate on switches so the short people don’t have to climb on chairs to turn them on… Still need to use extension cords for table lamps but we will address that after we recover from the kitchen fiasco...

He suggested we move the electric stove (which we may or may not now get) to the porch, we could cook until the kitchen is ready for it…Dad and I are going to the appliance places this morning after we go to dump with multiple bags of wet sheet rock and insulation and see what we can find for $25. Not really but that’s about where our budget will be soon…..

Anyhow, take heart. We got here safely when some people were dealing with horrific wind and rain and hail along the roads and even here in camp on the other side, camps were crushed by trees. We didn’t get any bedbugs that we know of after we sprayed per Mr. Algeo everything in the room and more… at the motel.

We will weather this little interruption in a restful visit to the “Lake House” as Jared calls it or Connemara North as it is dubbed.

While we gather our strength to attack the multiple jobs, think of these two senior citizens relaxing on the porch --- one in a rocker and the other hopefully soon in a recliner (a belated birthday present that is not here and will undoubtedly now be a cause of contention because of these new costs) --- as the loons glide by the chipmunks knock on the screen for peanuts…. It will happen, God willing, one of these years….

Keep us in your prayers. We will need them to survive each other as we debate what we should do and how…

Love and God bless from the great state of Maine… and a wonderful gift from God… a place on the lake to fish and relax…..

Mom and Dad… (Aunt Joan and Uncle Lowell)

P.S. The dock is not here… and we do not know what’s up there. This is not a good year to do it as it turns out, but we decided the other dock was too rotted out to keep repairing and ordered this last Fall…. God does have a sense of humor…

--------||--------

From KT Innes,
1:57 PM

FELLOW MAINE LOVERS AND LOON WATCHERS;

Despite all of that....still a piece of heaven on earth..can't wait to get there mold and all...now Ryan really has an excuse to stay home. Take care of each other and don't wear yourself out...
The good thing about Maine is that the work can wait...always more to do...
Counting the days till we can play SEPTIC CROQUET...

P.S. There is always peanut butter; ask Dad, it's his go-to meal...

------||------
Update: 8:45pm


Yes, Dad already has elected to put peanut butter on the menu. We went to Friendly's [and you did'nt bring me? I love me some Fribble! - hula] today when we were out to buy a stove, and had fried clams. He says we need to eat once in awhile.. spent $250 on food but don't know where to put it... I have one cupboard in the living room; another in kitchen will have to be moved. Looks like we will be able to cook late Monday or early Tuesday. The stove comes late afternoon and Electrician will come over after job he is on and install wiring... we always can cook on grill too.
John W. comes in at 7 in Portland train station so we will go get him. He says he knows how to do sheet rock and stuff... we may hire him.

Place looks like we were moving... and not in....

Anyhow it is raining, and the chipmunks came out to eat peanuts Dad got at the store.

Camp will be here, God willing... so come if you don't mind roughing it, if the Maine schedule of getting to a job is typical. We don't have a dock. Yet. Builder told me today he has been so busy he hasn't started yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was ordered last August... and I called him three times since January. Oh well, John and Mat will have to walk the boat into the water... real camp life...

We bought a Tappan electric stove, simple, no frills. We looked at a neat stove at Sears but they would not deliver before Wednesday and maybe later. This one is coming in Monday afternoon... smaller than the gas model but ample for the camp. Dad watched Phillies and is looking for supper.... better go...

Love and God bless,

Mom

Photographs are compliments of Aunt/Grandma Joan and John W. IV