Canada Lake, in Photos

When I published my Drift Away blog (our boat that we lived aboard), one of my favorite things was to grab my camera and photograph whatever happened by.  On Drift Away, it could be incredibly interesting.  Visiting our friend James on Canada Lake, maybe not so much.  But still, for a Tuesday on a tiny upstate New York lake, not too bad either.

A West Wight Potter.

Everyone sing... Mist, on the water...

Yep, certainly not as exciting as being on Drift Away... but still, these folks were having fun.

Goats

Amos and Andy are goats, and have natural instincts.  One of which is head butting.

It is amazing to me.  They somehow have programmed into their DNA that if they gain height, they gain power, and make their head butts more forceful.  They were fighting for the attention of their momma.

As for the run-in shed, Earl and I drove into town where I spent almost $100 on hinges for the shed doors, only to return home without the screws to put the doors together.  I really need to make lists.

Getting Close on the Run-in Shed

We spent the weekend in Harvey the RV on our property over the weekend.  It was a hot one, and so I worked in the morning and stopped when the heat and humidity got to me.

On Saturday, I closed in the back twelve foot wall.  Unfinished wet lumber is heavy, so what I did was to put nails on each end a half inch below the top of the board below it and then hoist the next board up, one end at a time.  This worked perfectly except for the last board, the one on top.  I was nailing from left to right, and when I got to the end, I found that the two nails I had there had bent.  Oh well, as I often say, it is a shed, not a bridge.

Besides, on the inside, the goats and horse won't even notice.

Today (Sunday) I only worked from ten until noon when I quit because of the heat.  I got up the small four foot wall in the middle of the front.

On Monday, I'm heading into town to buy hinges and to check to see if the local lumber mill has rough cut 2x6s.  I ran out when I decided to put in a small hay loft.   Then comes the doors, finishing the front, and then the roof.  And then onto the pump house.

Slow Progress on the Run-in Shed

I only work on the run-in shed in between rain showers and errands, which means maybe two or three hours a day, tops.  Anything more than that and I'm exhausted anyway.  I'm having a hard time pounding in four inch ringed pole barn nails.  But I did get the second wall put up.

Yes, I mis-measured one board.  I could have cut it shorter and used it on the one above, which is probably what I should have done, but I'm not building a bridge.

The black flies are fearsome in Bleecker, and the dogs are rolling in mud to protect themselves.  In the photo below, Olivia gets a bath.  Note the color of the bath water.

Tomorrow (Thursday) Pam and I are playing golf and so nothing for the blog.  I really don't know if I can swing a club anymore, but I'm going to try.  

More Sasquatch Stuff

This is so common place, it is almost getting boring.  Almost.  I found this on the back of the car this morning.

I did a bit of work on our property today.  I picked up about ten loads of compost from the goats' trailer and dumped it by the garden, which was exhausting work, and then a load of fill for the run-in shed.  Then, I cut eight boards to length for the shed side before giving in to the heat and humidity.  2 PM was victory beer time for me. 

Walling the Run-in Shed

Work is progressing on the shed.  Yesterday, our friend Trish came up to help me build a wall.  Well... it was more like I helped her.   We finished one side.

I'm doing the siding clapboard style, which keeps water out of the ends of the boards and will make it last longer.

That's about three hours of work, which is one hour longer that I can work when working alone.  I don't know what I'll get done today because it is raining.  Again.   ~sigh~.  What I need to do next is to bring in more fill.  I also leveled it for the last time yesterday, which lifted it a couple of inches off the ground.    I'll use Bessie the Tractor to do that, putting fill in the manure bucket and dumping it in, so I need to do that before I finish the walls.  Maybe later if the rain stops.

Camping At Fourth Lake, in Photos

You regular readers might notice that I sometimes disappear for a period.  That's when Pam and I go away, as we did last Thursday, taking Harvey the RV and all the critters to Fourth Lake in Lake Luzerne (NY) for a camping trip.  Pam and her friend  Kim rode horses, and I got to babysit all the animals, save the horses. Chevy and Ruby the pitbulls, Olivia the insane German Shorthaired Pointer, and Amos and Andy the goats.  Yes, the goats.  We asked at the park booth if they were kid friendly and they said yes.

Even though it rained for four days, it was a good time.  I had a chance to play with my camera once again.  Here you go.

Ruby.

75 watts of solar panels plus a 2000 watt generator.

Amos and Andy grazing.

 

Chillin'.

Andy looking for attention from Pamela.

Olivia tied to a chunk of firewood to slow her down.

Justin, Kyle, and Frankie.

Cassie and Chevy.

This is an amanita muscaria.  Deadly poisonous.  Out west, they're red and just as bad.

Beaver dam.

Nope.  No idea.

Ruby loves to blow bubbles in the water.

Gills of an amanita.

Bolete.

Despite the rain, it was a great camping trip.  Very relaxing.  Except for the goats.  And for Olivia running off someplace for a couple of hours dragging a log behind her.  Great trip.