Tales from Lake Fairlee, Volume III
 


Fairlee, VT -- August 13th, 2003

        Progress at last!

        Since the last installment a great deal has been accomplished. We are living like civilized folk, now, with running water and everything. I am reminded just how much the little things we take for granted make a difference.

        Early one Tuesday Billy Pierson arrived to begin making us a driveway. We had given him a general plan, how the driveway should angle off of the access drive and widen in a parking area before climbing up to the new well site. Billy started moving boulders and immediatley called for the loads of gravel to begin coming. His rig made quick work of the stumps left by the tree cutting guy. He cleared a way for the future culvert and proceeded to fill and grade the indicated path. By the end of the day he had roughed in the parking area, and was ready to begin building up the grade for the well driller.

        That night the skies opened up and we were drenched with over an inch of rain. It was probably a good thing, because it showed Billy where we needed additional drainage, and it soaked and packed the gravel he had already put down. The second day he completed the well grade and finished grading the driveway, all except for the culvert.

        The third day he brought about 24 feet of 12 inch plastic culvert, corrugated on the outside for strength, but smooth on the inside to keep everything flowing well. He quickly cleared a trench, placed the culvert, and backfilled it. The artistry came as he carefully selected rocks for the openings and gently placed them with the power shovel to make reinforced openings for our culvert.

        You may remember from the last installment that we had our pump installed in our well, but not yet hooked up. Within days we had water pressure, at first just to a garden hose, then gradually to one cabin and the other. We had a hot shower days before either toilet worked, but now everything is hooked up and everything works!

        Charlie had done a great job clearing the lakeshore area between the cabins, but it had rained quite a bit and we were tracking pine needles everywhere. I had Billy leave me a quarter load of something called "stay-mat," which is crushed stone of a sort that makes good footpaths. We covered the low parts of our paths, and used it to fill in steps to the shower and over the hill to the new dirveway.

        It rained every day for quite a while. Not all the time, but on and off, for a few minutes or a few hours. It was foggy every morning and muggy all day long. One morning it was clear enough to go out in the canoe (did I forget to tell you? we bought a 14 foot plastic canoe) and take some pictures showing the results of our efforts.

        Well. I can't include everything. We have walked and hiked and driven around the countryside. I bought a new (used) truck for Vermont homestead duty. We have seen beauteous things. We have had numerous visitors. Just today my brother Joe came by with his family to see what we have done. Sister Laura and family stayed for a weekend, and convinced the rain to take a day off. Jane's sister Barbara stayed for a week, before we even had running water! And, of course, our nephew Charlie has been an invaluable help all summer.

        Soon this summer will come to an end. Jane is off to California next Tuesday and I follow two days later. I am scurrying around now talking to builders and architects. We hope to begin building next summer or early fall (2004) and be able to live in our new house/cabin/camp in the summer of 2005. Those more adventurous of you might want to see the notes we are giving potential builders that reflect our present thinking about what we want to build. And a floor plan I have come up with that might work for us.



another chapter of this saga can be found here