More work on the barn

Marie-Claude, Lucas and I are heading back up to camp for the weekend. Lucas and I will be working on two projects: one, to remove all the vertical barn boards on the rear of the barn (in photo), apply new tar paper and/or Tyvek (the original tar paper between the boards has been completely eaten through by sunlight and weather, leaving spaces for hornets' nests and the like); and then, replace an 8"x8" beam holding up one end of the back porch of the house, the center of a lot of camp activity (or occasional inactivity). We'll have to use a car jack to raise the porch while we work on it: should be fun! We'll use pressure-treated materials this time, so it should last another 50 years at least. In the meantime, Marie-Claude will be getting things ready in the house, mowing the grass (again), making sure the tents are in good shape, and so on.

Preparations for Camp

We have begun to prepare for camp this summer on two fronts. Marie-Claude and Nancy have been visiting prospective campers and their families to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that the youngsters know what they are getting into. Camp can be pretty demanding, and it's best for that to be clear at the outset. Marie-Claude and I have also been going up to Vermont, getting the camp itself up and running: mowing the grass, which is very green and luxurious at this point; making some repairs to damage done over the winter (for example, a vent pipe ripped off the barn roof, no doubt by a four-foot snowfall on Valentine's Day); planning for some renovations and improvements to be completed before camp starts. The place is beautiful, with lilacs and apple trees in bloom, birds in abundance, many shades of green all around us as trees burst into leaf. It's a pleasure to be there, and we are looking forward to sharing the space with campers and counselors in another month.