Fire!

Many a night I have dreamed of sitting around a roaring fire with friends, feet up on the stone wall, finding topics of conversation in the embers.
We finally made it happen. With help from many friends, we built a nice sized firepit - about 8 feet across and 18 inches high.
First, my nephew Max and I gathered field stone from the many rock walls dissecting the property. Pretty much all the property is on a slope, so after pushing up a few choice barrows full of stone from below the firepit site, it occurred to me it might be easier if we took the rock from above the site. And it was; the only thing to watch out for were run away rocks as the momentum built along the downward paths.

This is one of the two piles we gathered

Max having a well deserved rest after the rock gathering.

the enchanted forest

The following weekend Margaret and Larry came up to help me put it all together. This is code for getting out of Larry's way while Margaret took pictures.

I get out of the way and Larry gets busy

I did fill the pit with sand - about a ton of it. Thank goodness it was in small bags!
In a shocking (to me anyway) 3 hours we were done.

starting the sand

 Fire in order!

It must be Spring

Ahh, it is that time of year again - Grounds Maintenance!

There has been plenty of rain this spring, which means the driveway and the field look like one.
I have been giving the driveway an annual spray with herbicide. Last year I used a 1 gallon sprayer and Ortho GroundClear 2 gal. Concentrate Vegetation Killer. The herbicide worked great, but the single gallon sprayer was foolish - fill, pump, lift,  spray for 10 seconds, set down, pump, repeat. As I'm sure many of you remember, this driveway is over 600 feet long. It took days to do the entire driveway this way.
This year I bought a better pump - a Chapin 61700N SureSpray Deluxe Backpack Poly Sprayer, 4-Gallon, and a different herbicide - I had forgotten I had used Ortho, and instead bought Roundup 32 oz. Concentrate Extended Control Weed and Grass Killer Plus Weed Preventer. I know, supporting the devil, but the job was done before I remembered. The Roundup only promises 4 months, and the Ortho promised 12 months. With winters up here I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes, but we shall see.

Last year I also sprung and bought a Toro 2-Cycle 25.4 cc Curved Shaft Gas Trimmer - this allowed me to trim out both sides of the driveway in near record time. Okay, it was record time - it only took 3 days of fighting 3' high grass, as compared to weeks using the scythe. As much as I love using the scythe (and I really do), getting the driveway DONE was a real pleasure.

And remember the last post about being able to count on rain? Yep, another rainy year - back to Mudfest! Last year was a break, but the year before... ugh.

A local business delivered 5 cubic yards of mulch, so I spent some time trying to change the texture of the trail.

Before:

 

After:

 

Didn't get it all done, but simple enough to do. Now if would just stop raining so I could enjoy it!

rain water collection

A good thing about the North East is rain - we seem to get plenty of it.
Over the years I have been successfully installing rainwater collection systems - gutters and drains that lead to a 55 gallon drum with two spigots - one for draining and one for overflow. I have done this to the shed and the outhouse, and this year the studio.

 The studio roof is roughly 12' by 16', so I will be able to harvest more water than I will ever need. I had bought gutters to put on the cabin, but realized the maintenance of gutters 22' off the ground would be difficult, if not impossible.

 I attached the down spout to the rear wall and pitched it into 55 gallon drum. The drum was used for tomato paste, and I buy the empty drums from a tomato sauce factory near by. Yes, there is such a thing as a tomato sauce factory. The picture doesn't show the lid, but I cut an opening and lined it with mosquito netting - I'll take a picture on the next visit.

 

 The height is new for me - this is 4' off the ground. I built it with four 4" by 4" lengths of pressure treated lumber, capped with 1" by 6" pressure treated lumber on both the top and bottom. 

Why four feet off the ground? To pipe into the sink of course!

everybody needs a sink!

The sink is attached to a drainpipe that is about 15' long and connected to T junction with 10' of drilled pipe. My hope is that this will spread the water out.
So now I wait. I have been busy working downstate, but have heard of mighty rains this Spring - I will see if this is successful on the next trip up.

The cabin on a glorious spring morning May, 2013

the view from the cabin, early spring 2013

New Years visit

We made a quick visit to the oasis on New Years. Unlike last year, we needed snowshoes to reach the site. About a foot of snow had fallen two nights before.

The snow showed signs of someone walking their dog along the drive, but they don't go beyond the fence.

There were animal tracks everywhere - I could ID rabbit, deer, and dog, but I think there were a few other animals out there too.

MJ's studio is holding up well...

As is the cabin...

Note the 'snow hole' giving access to below the deck. MJ said she saw something shoot away as we walked by - about the size of a cat; all she saw was the tail. It was so fast she couldn't ID beyond that. (At least she saw it, more than I can say!)

Always lovely to visit, but too cold to stay!