A Few More Pictures

House Roof

Last week we took advantage of several days of dry weather to replace half of the house roof.

Here are the backhoe and the construction dumpster ready to catch the old shingles:

The old roof:

Scraping off the old shingles with shingle rakes:

There were 4 layers of dirty, dusty, sticky asphalt shingles to remove, as you can see here:

Bits of asphalt shingle with nailer boards underneath. Some of the nailer boards were immensely wide and must have come from enormous trees. They were in relatively good shape for the age of the house:

Clapboard siding where the two roofs meet. There isn't much siding as most of the house is limestone, so we are planning to keep what little there is and paint it white as it originally was:

After the roof was cleared and swept we started putting down new cedar shake shingles:

All in all the project went very smoothly. The cedar roof looks fantastic with the house's limestone facade. More importantly, it is raining as I write and we have no leaks! We will start on the other half of the roof as soon as the weather allows and I hope to have pictures of the finished product very soon.

Weekend Photos

Last Days of Summer

The guys are outside right now in the damp, chilly fall air dressed in sweatshirts and stocking caps. A few days ago we were all in short sleeves enjoying the last few days of warm weather. Here are a few pictures showing what we have been up to.

Ric measuring barnboard for the East side of the Corn Crib:

Joe and Ryan M. on the scaffolding putting the barnboard siding up:

Ryan A., Aaron and Mel getting the upper inside floors started in the Corn Crib:

And here is the floor fully installed:

This is part of the old grain elevator and chute in the Corn Crib, nearly the last piece remaining. This is also probably one of the last shots I'll be able to get of the sunlight coming through the nailer boards before the roof is finished:

Jaime is here visiting us from Puerto Rico and we love having him. He is very skilled at making and remaking all kinds of things and is full of wise ideas besides. Here he is repairing some of our many broken tools:

Corn Crib

The Corn Crib has become one of my favorite buildings at the park, perhaps because we have invested so much time there, but also simply because she is a lovely old building with good bones. We have been giving her a facelift. The roof is now more than half done, the siding is going up, and the upper inside floors are going in beautifully.

To prevent the new floors from getting wet while the roof is being finished we stapled down plastic sheeting, but the wind was so fierce today that the sheeting didn't all stay put. The Corn Crib looked like a bride caught in the process of getting dressed on a windy wedding day - something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. She is beautiful, isn't she?

Picnic Pavilion

We have been working hard on the Picnic Pavilion. Here it is Before:
and After:

The pavilion offers working electricity, one sheltered corner as shown above, lots of room to seat people, and a great view of the pond. It is located directly adjacent to the bathhouse, just across the road from the camp store. Down the hill from the pavilion is the swimming beach where a large fire ring is available.

Park Model

There has been a lot of interest lately in renting the little cabin that we call the Park Model so I thought I might present some information about it here. The Park Model is situated in the circle overlooking the pond just a few steps from the camp store, the picnic pavilion, and the bathhouse. It has a cute front porch, working electricity and lights, a microwave, sink and toilet. It has two bunks on the bottom and a loft bed up top.

There is a fire ring nearby and plenty of room available to set up tents for additional sleeping space if you would like.

Note: The stove shown in the picture below does not work. The water heater in the Park Model also does not work but unlimited hot water is available in the bathhouse.

The cost to rent the Park Model is $50 per night. Reservations may be made by emailing me at maudee77@hotmail.com or calling 217-369-6519.