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Family and Friends, The Adventure, The Cabin

Real Time Update (RTU) – Siding!

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Since we picked up the siding for the treehouse from our friends who have a small sawmill on Saturday,
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and we had an extra set of hands today (Lynne, my cohort in the Mother’s Day ice cream treat)
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it only seemed right that we get started on the treehouse siding!
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The tricky part of putting siding on a treehouse is that it is HIGH!! Gary was on the scaffolding (and then on the ladder on the scaffolding) and I was way higher than my comfort zone high on the ladder, making sure the board was lined up with ‘the mark’. And then holding it there while he screwed it into the wall.
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(Lynne was my most excellent ladder holder and she only walked away to take this picture. Can you see how I’m hugging that tree???)
It was quite the day to be sure. Although you might consider that tree to be in the way, but for me it was just a little bit of extra security! Yes, I was a tree-hugger today!
Thankfully we got the first side done not too long after lunch.
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Looks pretty cool, right?
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Tomorrow he’ll move the scaffolding around to do the back. There’s a window there, so that will make it a little bit more tricky. And my ladder-holder is leaving tomorrow morning, so that could be a complication too! We’ll see how it all works out!
Trust me, it may look precarious, but I’m a pretty big chicken if it doesn’t feel safe.  Gary is very careful to make sure the ladder is secure before I head up it! Since he likes me and everything!

We’ll have to see just how far we get tomorrow!

Steph

 

Family and Friends, The Adventure, The Cabin

Remembering Mom

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I believe I heard somewhere that tomorrow is Mother’s Day.   So even though I shared this post back on her birthday this past July, it seemed appropriate to share it again this evening. Once again I’m sitting at the cabin where the fingerprints of my Mom are everywhere. And once again, I am remembering how blessed I was to call her Mom! So please forgive the repetition –

July 17, 2022
Yesterday would’ve been my Mom’s 97th birthday. She’s been gone  26 years, but nowhere does does she seem closer than here at the cabin. From the ‘silver’ platter hanging on the wall – a wedding present back in 1947 –
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to the reminder on our ancient refrigerator about what settings to use when,
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to the “please remove spike shoes’ sign (from a short stint working at a country club) to the handmade Indian doll sitting on the neighboring shelf –
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my Mom’s remembrances are all around us.
Earlier this year I wrote a bit about Mom for the Storyworth project our kids gave us for Christmas. (Yes, as Gary said – a Christmas present with homework!).
“What was your Mom like when you were a child?”
My goodness, what a BIG question!
In some ways, Mom was a superhero. When I was not quite two and she was pregnant with my brother, my oldest sister was diagnosed with Polio. Elna was whisked away to spend months and months in the hospital while the rest of the household was placed in strict quarantine. I was too young to remember any of that of course, but when I became a Mom and would become overwhelmed with my life, I would think of her managing the two of us girls at home, getting ready to deliver baby #4, all the while her first precious daughter was in the hospital. Somehow that always managed to help me get my life back in perspective.
She was a Musician. One of my favorite childhood memories is falling asleep while she practiced her cello down in her music studio (aka the dining room!). She loved her cello, played in several area orchestras and ensembles, and even began taking lessons (again!) when she was in her 60’s. While cello was her first love, she was also an accomplished pianist. Most afternoons neighborhood kids would come to our house for their lessons, and while I don’t recall her actually giving me lessons, somehow I learned how to read music and play sorta-kinda. She would come and help, but never insisted that I learn. She taught piano and played her cello right up until her death in 1996.
She was a Seamstress.
UntitledI think she made most of our clothes growing up – I especially remember one Christmas when I got the softest furry bathrobe that she had secretly worked on while we were in school. There were many a photo of the three of us girls in matching outfits, and sometimes ones that even matched hers. She made wedding dresses for my sisters, along with the bridesmaid dresses too! When I wanted to learn how to sew and my home ec teacher wanted me to start with an A-line skirt, I remember saying to Mom – “Can I make a lined cape instead ?” “Sure” was her easy reply!
She was Athletic. She loved to ski (she was the Snow Queen for one of the Snow Festivals in Vermont during her college days) and play tennis. I think  she would often outplay my Dad on the courts! I know she always beat me! She had a degree in both Music and PE from Ithaca College in NY so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

She was a Great Cook. Although my dad took over the gourmet cooking in the 60’s, Mom was always ready with a good home cooked meal. Her mac and cheese was legendary and I think my favorite was the classic 1960 chuck roast in foil with onion soup and cream of mushroom. She did hold to the logic that having liver once in a while was beneficial (all that iron, I guess), but I still loved her (and her cooking) regardless!

She was Fun and Funny!
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She’d take us ice skating at a local lake ( we even had a small rink in our back yard when we lived in Willow Grove), she’d help us build snow tunnels when the drifts in the driveway were too high to even shovel, and she had a great sense of humor. We laughed a lot around the dinner table.

 

She was an Encourager. I don’t recall ever hearing her say – “Don’t try that, it’s too hard.”  When I wanted to sew my wedding gown – she helped me shop for fabric. She was always on my side.

Maybe this question was geared more to my younger childhood. And the memories I shared above are from when I was a bit older. I honestly don’t remember lots of warm and fuzzy moments with Mom when I was younger – but I certainly don’t have any cold and harsh memories either. Did she tuck me in each night when I was younger? I’m sure she did. Do I remember those moments? I do not. She was always there for us. Strong and steady, putting her family first and encouraging each of us to be the best that we could be.

And sending us off to dreamland with Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
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Miss you especially these days, Mom! So thankful for the promise of eternity in heaven with you!

Pictures of the Adventure, The Cabin

Keeping Records

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UntitledHow thankful I am that back in 1979 my mother started a “Log Book” here at the cabin. It started as more of a diary – she was at the cabin a lot that summer and did a great job of recording all the comings and goings. But over the years it has morphed into more of a wordy guest book. Everyone who comes is asked to not just sign in, but actually share their experiences. Since I was determined to figure out just when that first electric pump was installed (“early 2000s” was pretty vague, right?), I pulled out the log books and began to read!
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(You can tell we’ve been really careful to stay consistent over the years, right????)
Of course, I didn’t have to start at the very beginning (I did, after all, have an inkling of when it was), but it is always so fun to read everyone’s entries over the years. And remember not only the year(s) of the bad road, the overly friendly mice, the ladybug invasion, and the bear sighting, but also read about the first time a new daughter-in-law came to the cabin, or when the grandkids caught their first fish (even if it was just a Sunny), or to be reminded of all the wonderful family vacations we had here when the kids were little. I even came across a poem I wrote about “Girls’ Week” in June of 1996.
We’ve laughed and we’ve giggled
We’ve all had such fun,
It’s hard to believe
that Girls’ Week is done!

The lawn has been mowed
And the well’s working fine.
The gardens been planted
and the weather’s been kind.

Our trip to North Conway
Fulfilled many a whim
As we found bargain after bargain
And filled the car to the brim.

The road was a challenge
It’s easy to say
The mud just kept moving
to new spots every day!

The fireplace warmed us
And helped cook our food
With temps in the 40s
We burned plenty of wood.

We checked out the flavors
in North Haverhill
Cappuccino or Cookie Dough
What choices! What Thrills!

We haven’t quite worked
Maybe as hard as we should
But the days have been full
And the fellowship good!

And now it’s the end
Of a week that’s so dear
But with our precious Lord’s blessing
We’ll be back – NEXT YEAR!

Little did we know that that would be our last Girls’ Week with Mom. She passed away very suddenly just three months later. These books tell the story of not only The Cabin but also of our family and friends who have come to this little patch of green grass where an old red cabin stands steady and true.  How precious they are!

Thanks for coming along down this memory lane with me. And by the way – the first electric pump for the well was installed in July of 2003.  Happy 20 years of (almost) running water at The Cabin!
I knew you wanted to know!
Steph

 

 

Pictures of the Adventure, The Cabin

The Cabin Water System

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When I posted this picture following our arrival here at The Cabin
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someone asked me what the hanging milk jugs were for.
Those, my friends, are part of The Cabin Water System.
When I was a little girl, the water system was a bit simpler. We took 2-gallon buckets to the well, primed the pump, prayed it worked,  and hand-pumped the water into the buckets. Then we would lug the buckets back to the cabin (slosh, slosh) where they would live (one at a time)on a big hook by the sink, with a long-handled dipper nearby for scooping some out to use. This was long before the days of bottled water (or even the knowledge that we should be drinking lots of water! I think it was Kool-Aid all the way for us. But I digress!). By the time our kids were old enough to be our water carriers, we had upgraded to milk jugs (well rinsed out, of course). But we were still schlepping them to the well in the woods near the pond and lugging them back to the cabin. Sometimes they’d load them into a wheelbarrow, or sometimes there would be a contest to see just how many they could carry at once (think teenage boys). But the water was still hand pumped and the “fetching water chore” was still just that – a chore.
Sometime in the early 2000s, Henry suggested that we actually get an electric pump to get the water from the well to at least near the cabin. It took a couple of years to fine-tune that plan, but eventually, the water system became so sophisticated that we now even have a beautiful outdoor shower (with hot water and everything!).
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But hot running water in the shower does not mean that we have running water in the cabin. What we do have is running water CLOSE to the cabin!
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That outdoor sink is where we fill up our water jugs. It’s much closer to the cabin than the well, and it’s much easier to use! Once the jugs are filled they are stored under the sink in the kitchen.
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When a jug is empty, it moves to the sturdy string by the door.
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And when the string gets full of jugs, we walk out to the sink and fill them up again.
It’s a pretty good system. Easy-peasy.

Here is how our hot and cold water works at the sink.
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OK – here is everything labeled, just in case the “system” wasn’t clear!
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(My mom ‘installed’ the faucet as a joke about thirty years ago – before there was even a whisper of the possibility of running water. I loved her humor! Of course, to follow suit, Gary installed an outlet in the outhouse where there is no electricity. He loved Mom too!)
So you might be wondering why we don’t just run water into the cabin. After all, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. And it would be even more convenient. The problem is that we have no septic system. Right now that little kitchen sink drains through a piece of black tubing, under the cabin and out the other side where folks don’t generally go. We oldsters know that if you put a faucet with running water at the sink there will be lots more water running down that hill. And that could get nasty. And the other problem is in starting up and shutting down the system. Even with our relatively simple system, there are always issues each spring when we get the water going again. More system just means more complications (and leaks!).
So for now (and at least as long as Uncle Gary is doing the plumbing) it’s water jugs and tea kettles and trips to the sink that is CLOSE to the cabin!

And for me, that is progress enough!!
I mean really – HOT showers at the cabin!! It’s a miracle to me every time!

The Adventure, The Cabin

Mondays are for Memories – That First Cabin Post

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Since it’s Monday, and I often do a “Memory” post on these first days of the week, I thought I’d look back to find my very first post about the cabin! It was in September of 2004 – just a month after we started off on this great adventure! There have been some changes here at The Cabin since that post almost 19 years ago – but the sentiment remains the same!

The Cabin – 09/07/2004

Have I told you about the Cabin? It’s a small one-room cabin built by my grandfather in the 1930s. He was the town doctor up here in Bradford, Vermont, and needed a little getaway that wasn’t too far from town. The Cabin, built on the foundation of an old farming settlement about 8 miles outside of town, is on about 100 acres on Wright’s Mountain (elevation 1800 ft+/-). Growing up I remember the cows that wandered through the fields on the way to their upper pasture (and watching out for the cow plops that dotted the grass), the two gas lights that were the only illumination other than candles, and the chemical toilet bucket that my father would ever so carefully carry through the cabin to be disposed of in some unknown (to me) location. The water was hand pumped from the well and the kids were the beasts of burden to get it to the Cabin. There’s a small pond where we would swim and catch salamanders, frogs and fish. Trust me, there’s nothing like a fresh-caught trout for breakfast! Electricity came in the 1960s along with the Destroilet ( a gas toilet – but that’s an entire other story!). A loft was added to accommodate the next generation (as in my kids and my siblings’ kids), and now we even have running water – well, it’s to the shed anyway! The Destroilet died several years ago, and we moved to the good old-fashioned outhouse. It’s a two-holer with all the amenities ~ a magazine rack, pretty curtains, and scented candles.
The Cabin is where I go to re-fuel emotionally and spiritually. The scenery has changed only in the addition of a few houses on the hillside and the growth of new trees. Maybe these pictures will help explain the special qualities of this family gem –

Here is my favorite view – with the cabin reflected in the pond (I know, I know, Lara – I take it every year…but there are little changes every year, honest!)

This is the view from the back porch –

And this is the view from the back porch when we eat dinner…

We took a drive to one of the hills in the above “view from the back porch” to see if we could see the cabin. Well folks, if you look really hard you can see a tiny dot in the middle of this picture – and that my friends is the cabin. And that is also why we feel free to leave the outhouse door open to enjoy the view when we are doing our -ahem- business!

Here is a closer view of the cabin…

OK, so this isn’t the cabin – but it was a pretty neat picture of an old cemetery and church that we came upon in our travels that I thought I’d include it!

And here we are with our friends Joe & Janet who joined us for Labor Day weekend at the Cabin. (Honest, the triple chins are from the way I’m sitting, not from all that ice cream research!)

OK – back to 2023! Those folks in the chairs are looking a bit different these days – but so is the area around that little cabin!
I took this picture yesterday – the angle is different, but I really hadn’t realized how much of the “landscaping” had changed over the years!
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…to everything there is a season…