Concession Stand

You didn't know we sold hot dogs and lemonade, did you? We don't! Here's why.

This was the old concession stand which was built onto the back of the bathhouse. It was in some bad shape.




Here's how it looked on the inside:



Given how AWFUL it looked and how rotten and dangerous it was our only option was to tear it down.

The whole thing was full of raccoon poop - especially in the ceiling panels, so that when you pulled them down it was like taking a dusty raccoon poop shower. There are little trails of dirt on the floor of the bathtub this morning from where we all washed it out of our hair. Yech.



Soon I'll post some more pictures of the work and hopefully the completed project. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the boys.

Wild Animals

Spring Shed

If looking outside doesn't make it obvious that spring is here you can always look for other signs. Shedding hair in spring is an annual rite, for example, and the forest creatures loss of their winter coats is a sure sign that winter has ended.

(Ryan did shave and get a haircut, honestly, but it grew back so fast I didn't have time to take a picture. Amazing.)

3Bay Barn

Yesterday we did some work in the 3Bay Barn. Some of the big upper beams were showing signs of age so we provided some support for them in the form of some mighty large 24-foot 2x12 boards. We also added the framework for some flood lights which will hang from the new boards. The scaffolding was set up in the barn beneath the beams in question. Then we hoisted the boards up using ropes and bolted them in place.

There are three sets of beams which need support and lighting added, so wash, rinse, repeat two more times - the scaffolding will be dismantled, moved over, and rebuilt beneath each set of beams.

Being Cold

A few weeks ago this little bit of snow and wind we are having now would have seemed balmy compared to the winter months of below-freezing temperatures, but apparently I have acclimatized to being warm very quickly this year. Yesterday while we were tromping around the park I wore my normal winter clothes (long underwear, heavy socks, boots, jeans, flannel shirt, sweatshirt, Carhartt jacket, hat, and insulated waterproof gloves) but I got cold very quickly and stayed that way the whole day. We will all be glad when the sun comes out again. :)

Tent for Rent

These are our new canvas wall tents. They are 10 feet by 12 feet in plan, 8 feet high at the center pole and 5 feet high at the wall poles. The tents sit on a raised platform. These tents may be rented for events (Spring War, Armageddon, Airsoft, etc.) at a cost of $25 per night. If you are interested please contact us at ellie@stonehousepark.net.

Our (New) (Clean) Front Yard

Mating Season

For frogs, that is. The frogs have been going scree-scree-scree in the ditch all day.

I spent the day finishing the front-yard-cleaning project.

Junky wood went into the burn pile:

And good wood was hauled off to be split for firewood:

This is an amazing piece of bark from the old oak stump. It's about 2 inches thick and covered in poison ivy vines. You can tell poison ivy even in the winter by the "legs" that hold the vines onto the bark or barn board or whatever the ivy happens to be clinging to:

This is the hole in my glove through which I sincerely hope I have not been infected with poison ivy. If I get poison ivy before spring even officially starts I will be peeved.

This is the view from the ditch in the front yard. Flat.

And this, apparently, is the secret sleeping spot of Bakshi the Cat. He crept up while I was near the ditch in the front yard trying to take pictures of frogs (I failed) and curled up in a hole in the grasses like he had slept there a hundred times.