We’ve had a productive week in the old attic. (You’re getting used to my liberal use of the word “we” , right?)
The attic is HUGE, and it’s a good thing since it will be holding 7 A/C units and duct work for 22 rooms. Trust me, that’s a lot of Stuff. But first it had to be made safe to walk on, so Gary put a floor down the center.

So much better than walking on the 2 1×6’s that constituted the previous walkway.

The other tricky part of the attic is the loose insulation (paper, not fiberglass thankfully!) that also covers the floor of the attic. That would be the mountains of loose insulation.
Once the floor was down, he was on to building the shelves for the duct work.


(Remember that loose insulation? Sometimes it has a very hard time staying on the floor!)

Here they are – just waiting for the duct work!

And here’s the first batch of duct work, just waiting to be hauled up the ladder.

Speaking of the ladder – this is, in my opinion one of the best innovations regarding our attic work –

Ok, so you can’t really see what I’m so excited about here, but the top of the ladder is actually attached to the framing, making it totally secure. Totally. And since Gary (and I, some days)makes any number of trips up and down that ladder, having it nice and secure makes a world of difference. A. World. of. Difference.
So – back to the duct work.
Before we could start with the duct work runs we had to figure out where the rooms start and stop and where the returns and supplies would need to be. And believe me, with all that insulation piled between the joists, it wasn’t all that easy! Once we had a located a doorway center, Gary taught me how to use this architect’s ruler and read the blueprint and he set about marking where he needed to cut holes in ceilings and duct work. He was incredibly patient with me – after all, it involved math.

Here it is – our first run!

I don’t think I’ve felt such ownership in duct work.
And for those of you who might be interested – this is the Return duct work. (I need to keep practicing my A/C words and understanding)
And for those of you who are frightened that the next three months will be filled with only views from the attic – fear not!

See – I am using my camera for other things!
Have a safe week, all!

Last night we had our “exit meeting”. Yep, at the end of each project we all get together and review our month together. It’s always good to go back over the month and reflect on the high points and maybe discuss any potential problems. (This report is very helpful to the office as they manage our almost 170 projects.) But since you probably don’t care so much if our parking spots were “as described in the Sowergram” or if our materials were on hand, I thought I’d do my own End of Project Report – mostly with pictures!
I’ve done a lot of interesting stuff this winter – office work, bric-a-brack dusting, surfboard painting, curtain making and even a bit of computer research. This month the more traditional SOWER work caught up with me. Good old fashioned housekeeping. Ah yes, we’ve been making beds and disinfecting hard surfaces, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms.

This is Nola, my bed making buddy. 🙂

And then the vacuuming! (or staring out the window waiting for your turn!)
When we weren’t getting rooms ready for guests or cleaning conference rooms, we were working in the new building cleaning up construction debris and dirt, getting ready for the carpet.

And then it was back to the housekeeping!

We were always working in teams

so even though the work was, well, housekeeping, we were still enjoying our time together. (They have a very particular bathroom cleaning regime, which is a good thing, but since I started on the beds, that’s where I stayed. And (truth be told) that was OK with me!) I certainly have a renewed sense of appreciation for clean motel rooms!
The guys were totally concentrating on the new building

and I’m happy to report that Gary was totally earth bound. No ladders at all! Instead, he was mostly on his knees!

The guys tiled and grouted 12 motel room bathrooms, a break area, the entry way and the common bathrooms off the entryway. Lots of knee time there!

They did a great job on all that tile work, and then while they waited for the carpeting to arrive they worked on installing the ceiling on the front “porch”.

(Please notice that Gary is the guy working the saw, and is not up on the scaffolding!)
And when the time was right –

he was back on his knees with the carpet glue!

One of the fellows was doing a fair bit of fiberglass work (he’s an expert and there were lots of places he could help with), but many days all the guys were working together. I think they all were having a good time!
Ok, so that’s the work end of things! I’ve already shared about the fun weekends, but did I mention the Ice Cream Social we had?

Lots of options there! And lots of fun too! We had a couple of game nights and if the camp was serving meals to guests we were blessed to eat together also!
So that covers the work and some of the play…..how about some of the flora and fauna?
You remember our view? –

Well, most morning it actually looked more like this –

Beautiful mist and a sweet pair of courting geese. Now, I’m not really a Canada Goose fan, but it was so fun to watch these two do their little dating dance and defend their little lake. About the only guy they would let hang around was the beautiful blue heron, who would just look at them as if to say – “Just what is your problem?”

Occasionally we would see an osprey dive bomb into the lake and then soar away with a fish in its beak. That was pretty cool, and undocumented by me. You trust me, right?
One of the programs they run here at Camp Baldwin is an Estuary Life program. We had a little tour of their room/lab –

Hello, little alligator!

Greetings, Mr. Turtle!

Getting a little close, doncha think, Mr. King Snake?

OK, just a couple more random photos…..
I posted a sunset picture at the end of my last post which was a picture of the camp’s dock on Wolf Bay.

Here a couple more shots that I took that night –
To the Left –

To the Right –

Straight on (closer to the water)

And even looking back

As I was busy clicking away I kept seeing fish jumping out of the water. One at a time, and at least 5 feet in the air. Here’s my best attempt at catching the action….

According to the Estuary Life guy it’s a Leaping Mullet. I’ll let you Google it!

Well, thanks for hanging in there! I know this has been too long, and a little random in its organization. Sorry.
But since we really are wrapping up things here at Camp Baldwin, I figured I’d better get it all done at once. We leave on Thursday and are headed to Lancaster, PA, where we’ll be helping our son do a major downstairs renovation before we head into our April SOWER project in Montrose, PA. Pennsylvania = Family and Friends. 🙂 (Can you see me doing little happy dance!)

One last picture –

I love this shot. I only wish he had taken more time to actually do this!