Home & Living

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen things change so quickly in my life. At the beginning of this past week, I was walking around, fairly aware and concerned with what’s going on in the world around us and then by Wednesday or Thursday, I became acutely aware and concerned with them. I’m sure you know […]

I’ve had a pile of about three yards of stone dust (sand) staring at me ever since the last time I dug into it. That’s got to be a few weeks by this point. I haven’t been too eager to transport it to the area of the woods it was intended for because I’m not […]

As I mentioned in a previous post about grapes growing in Maine, we happen to have quite a few of them. Initially, we had four vines growing, but somehow, two of them disappeared. We now have two heavy producers. The grapes that are growing are slightly different. One is nice and sweet while the other […]

Yesterday was one very annoying day. We lost power and for approximately 20 hours, we sat here twiddling our thumbs. So here’s how it went. It poured outside during Friday evening. It rained so hard that I could here the sheets of water hitting the roof. I took at look at the weather forecast to […]

Up until a few days ago, I had a little problem. I had a bunch of wood in the garage that was getting in my way. The wood consisted of a very long pallet (about 10 feet) that was given to me by a neighbor to stack my firewood on as well as a wooden […]

For some strange reason, I am so into the holiday spirit this year. It’s most likely because I’ve been planning it since February. Last year, we had such a good time shopping up in Kingfield and doing all sorts of things, such as cutting down our own Christmas tree. I don’t think I wanted last […]

I’m sorry to have to do this to you. I really am. It’s just that I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t let this stuff sit in the box any longer out in our entryway. It was just resting there looking at me, every single time I walked into and out of the house. […]

It’s been a pretty good summer so far. As far as the weather goes, things have been relatively cool. We had a few hot days with warm nights, but last night, I had to put a sweatshirt on. Those are definitely my kinds of nights. Anything over 60 degrees during the overnight makes me a […]

Just about two minutes ago, I finished boiling our first batch of perfect grade A light amber pure maple syrup. It took a little while to collect the sap, but the trees are flowing a bit better now that it’s not ten degrees outside during the nights anymore. Just yesterday, I was able to capture […]

A few weeks ago, we had weather that made me think spring was going to come early this year. The warmer weather lasted about a week before it ended. It got very cold again and dumped another 16 inches of snow on us. During the warm week, however, many folks around here tapped their maple […]

Just a few moments ago, Laura informed me that our water was orange. Upon learning this, I said, “Oh crap. Not another issue.” It’s these little surprises that are my least favorite things. I enjoy predictability and steadiness. Not ups and downs and things I’m not ready for. Luckily, before she even finished her sentence, […]

I must say, this was probably one of the best Christmases of my life. I’ve learned some valuable lessons over the past year that I’d like to share with you throughout this post. Nothing crazy or anything, just some life adjustments that really made a difference during this holiday season. I think it was a […]

I got this idea that other day that I’d give making a Christmas wreath a try. I made a few of these years and years ago, but I really don’t think I gave it my all back then. Since we live among so many types of pine trees and since the whole endeavor would only […]

Happy Thanksgiving to all. What a fun day. Laura and I made the best of it and fell asleep last night very tired and stuffed to the gills. We went hiking, for a walk, ate, drank and watched a movie. We even saw Piper the horse. Piper is our favorite horse across the street and […]

I happen to be a man who loves tools. I’ve got a whole bunch of them and am always on the lookout for more. To be brutally honest, I’ll admit that I sometimes want to get rid of my current tools, just so I can somehow acquire new ones. I get bored easily and love […]

About a year ago, I picked up a roll of fiberglass screen from the hardware store. At this point in my life, I have no idea why I did that. What I do know is that the roll of screen has been sitting in the corner of our log cabin room since the day of […]

Yesterday was one of those days. I felt like I won. The stars were aligned and everything that could have gone right, did. Please let me explain. Laura and I have been wanted to walk on a new (to us) rail trail down in Farmington for a while. The parking for the trail sits next […]

I know this is a bit late. My apologies. I’ve been preoccupied with doing a whole bunch of random things. For example, yesterday, a tree fell down across our road and landed on the wires, knocking out the power. Someone came and cut up the wood and put the wires back together. After our power […]

I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a post that I think will be quite helpful to a few people who are friends of mine. Not that my other posts aren’t helpful – you know, pictures of wood piles and such – I just think this one might assist someone in avoiding one of […]

Funny thing about Christmas trees. Around Thanksgiving each year, Laura and I start talking about when we are going to go out back into the thick and cut down our Christmas tree. During the week that follows Thanksgiving, we go outside and walk around the woods for a while in an effort to find the […]

Well, I finally bought them. Our recent frigid temperatures drove me to place an order on Amazon for my new Baffin Impact snow boots. And just as luck would have it, I made the order on Cyber Monday and received 30% off the price of the purchase. Isn’t that some goodness? These boots remind me […]

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always enjoyed making things out of wood. I’m talking about small things here – not large ones like sheds or houses or barns. More along the lines of tables, bed frames, small area fences, etc…The thing is, for as long as I can remember, I’ve never really […]

Last week sometime, Don and his beautiful wife were driving up our road during one of our walks. In Maine, it’s not customary for someone you know to drive by and wave. What the custom is, is to stop and talk for a while. Every time Don drives by, it’s known that he’ll stop to […]

This is the last thing I’m going to say about the whole septic tank issue and really, the only reason I’m writing this post is for our own records. We thought it would be a good idea to, instead of marking the lawn where the tank is, measure things out and post it here. Since […]

This task is finished. Thank goodness. I was really getting exhausted from thinking about what’s happening under the ground I walk on. This past Monday, I had Mike Pond from Strong, Maine come out to pump the tank. He’s a pretty nice guy. He pumped our tank, which was quite full, for the sweet price […]

Ahh, the wonderful septic tank. The big concrete (or plastic) apparatus that lies beneath the ground that’s rarely, if ever, thought of. The contraption people keep talking about and that people warn others about, but that few ever pay attention to. When was the last time you had your septic tank pumped? Last year, 5 […]

Big life change for me today. I decided to move my little computer table to a more appropriate area. I used to sit in somewhat of the middle of the house – no windows, no breeze, not much light. Now, I sit in the log cabin room. Honestly, getting away from the dull area wasn’t […]

Oh thank goodness. Laura and I were hanging out at the pool this morning when we heard some commotion at the front of the house. It sounded like the FedEx guy was here and he rolled the back of his box truck up and then back down. After a few minutes, I heard the sound […]

I did a little walking around this morning. For the past few days, I’ve been checking diligently on our raspberry and blueberries bushes. The blueberries are doing okay. On two bushes, the berries are still somewhat small, but on one bush, I’d say in another week, I’ll be eating something. The news as of yesterday […]

I am writing this post primarily for two people. First, for my father because I know how into pools he is. I have some stuff I want to show him. Next, for Laura’s mother because I know how into Voleman she is. I have a very special picture of him. Alrighty then. First off – […]

I haven’t visited the pond in quite a while. The grass is growing high around it, so I’ve been avoiding the area because of my fear I’ll be inundated by ticks. Not that I’ve gotten a tick here yet, but I’m sure they’re out there. I decided to venture back there this afternoon. Laura caught […]

The only other time the pool has been this clean is when we first opened it. When we peeked under the cover, all we saw was clear water and leaves at the bottom. A few days after we removed the cover though is when all hell broke loose. Within that time period, a swamp had […]

Guess what? We got our pool floater today. I’ve been waiting all season to find out what the temperature of the pool is and now I know. The pool floater (chlorine dispenser) has a little mini thermometer built into it. It’s pretty cool. The current reading says that the pool is 68 degrees, which is […]

This is probably one of the funnier things that’s happened in my life recently. I can’t believe I’m actually writing about it because I feel a bit silly, but hey, if I can help out someone who’s having similar difficulties, then I’ve done my job as a human. We’ve been living in this house for […]

If you remember, we arrived at this house in November. By the time we got here, all we had time to do before all the snow came was to unpack, run down to Home Depot to pick up and install a pellet stove, go out to purchase and haul back a ton of pellets, make […]

Today is May 1st. I’ve been waiting for this day because I think it may be the very first day of my life where I’ve been able to touch snow – in the Month of May. Never before have I lived in an area that offers such cool temperatures as to give me the pleasure […]

Laura and I eat a lot of wraps. Or tortillas – whatever you call them. You know, those round flat things that you curl around food. Then you cut them in half and put them in your mouth. Like I said, we eat a lot of these things and pretty much go through them like […]

If there’s one thing you truly need while living in Central, Northern or Western Maine, it’s a good pair of boots. I’m not sure how rugged Downeast Maine is, so I can’t comment on that. But from what I’ve seen so far in the above areas, you’re going to end of doing dirty business in […]

Our good neighbor, Sam, delivered a dozen fresh duck eggs yesterday. I’ve been asking for these for a few weeks now. Almost every time Laura and I walk up the road, somehow the conversation turns to eggs. Sam’s family has twenty six chickens and they’re getting almost a dozen eggs a day. They’ve also got […]

I think today is the day that Maple Syrup Season begins in Maine. It’s weeks late, but better than never I suppose. When I woke up this morning, I had every intention of tapping some trees. We’ve had a few-day-run of warm weather (mid-40s) so I figured it was go time. I got caught up […]

If I were ever to do it again, or perhaps build a cabin or to offer advice to someone who wants to build a cabin in Maine, I would most definitely and with all my power, lean towards building the structure with SIPs. A “SIP” is a “structural insulated panel” and is in the most […]

We are sitting here in the midst of our latest snow storm. I just heard about this one a few days ago. Unbeknownst to me, the storm has been building for some time and as of right now, I’d say we have about 8 inches on the ground. I was out shoveling a while ago. […]

Well, the basement is pretty much finished. All I have to do now is to place a few columns under the floor of the upstairs section to get rid of the springiness. The span across that section of the house is probably around twelve feet, so the floor sags a bit. I’ll give you a […]

While I was at the hardware store yesterday, I decided to pick up a copper pipe cutting tool. I say “copper” pipe because I’m sure that’s what I can cut with it. What I’m not sure of is whether or not I can cut plastic. Steel, I know I can’t cut, but plastic PEX pipe […]

I called my father last night to tell him this story. I was just amazed at how the timing worked out. Since you didn’t hear it, I’ll have to tell it again. As you know, I recently did some work on our sump pump discharge piping. I had to wait for my check valves to […]