Still cookin'!

It's been a fun and eventful early summer here at 54 Ridgeway. We've had many guests, lots of project support, and plenty of sunshine.  As you may know, May is turkey season here, in central New York.  As usual, I said I wasn't going to go this year.  Too early.  Don't want ticks.  Not a huge fan of killing anything, even though I love to grill it.  Then, May first came around, I bought my hunting license, and dug out the camo.

Also, as usual, I did not shoot a turkey.  On a particularly annoying morning Tony and I sat under the tree the turkeys were roosted in.  Getting close to the turkeys is good.  Getting that close to the turkeys is bad.  Anyway, we had fun, got to see many sunrises, saw some cool activity and animals that the majority of people never experience, and I didn't have to deal with my guilt.

Our friends Sam and Heather are expecting a child and hosted a baby shower, so we went back to the sewing machine.  I managed to stitch a few scraps together into shapes that resembled burp clothes without too much blood loss.  Sarah made a beautiful blanket.

Dude got a new grill!  On Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of a sale and picked up a new, old school Weber charcoal grill.  Although it takes a little longer, I am really enjoying the ritual of grilling over charcoal.

And there's nothing like making some charcoal of your own.

We don't eat burgers too often, but we couldn't help christening the grill with the traditional meal.  I made some macaroni salad to go with it and drank a little Mexican style beer.

We set up the slack line for the first time this year.  Zach and Kristin and the girls had a great time on it.  Zach had so much fun that he went out and bought one for himself.

I got a new hat for the summer.  Keep searching for that perfect piece of head gear.  What I'm really looking for is a great lifeguard style straw hat made in the US, but this will have to do for now.

We have a nice tradition of hanging out at Zhora's house every couple of weekends.  Bob does a great job on the grill, and I'm taking notes.  Watching Zhora and her friends run around and scream in the hose reminded me of the great summers of childhood.

Mom and Dad H came out last weekend and worked like champs.  Between them and Veneta we feel like we are in pretty good shape.  It was lovely to get to visit with everyone and we enjoyed pretty low key fun... hiking, chatting, grilling, painting, and walking the dogs.

Everyone relaxed after a long day of working and hiking and chatting.

Grandma Cressman sent a dock box, which was expected and exciting as well as the collapsible picnic table from Fox Haven, which was unexpected and very handy.  We look forward to getting lots of use out of it.  Thanks Grandma!

We got a new camera and I've been playing around with it a bit.  Sarah watered the garden this morning.  We've been lucky with the garden so far this season and have put in some extra work to protect it from chipmunks and moths and the like.

This afternoon, we went over to Erik's and hung out at the river.  It was wonderful!  We watched the kids play and chatted and waded in the river.

This is Zach and Kristin's daughter, Nora.

The moon tonight, and the swamp.  It's been a nice weekend so far.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Happy summer vacation!

This is a hodge-podge from the past week's events. School finally ended on the 25th, about two weeks later than appropriate.  The kids were absolutely bonkers by the end of it.  Last Monday my truck broke down on the way to school.  Fortunately, Sarah had already gotten to work (her care was in the shop for new brakes), but that left me stranded on a school day.  Erik, being the chivalrous young man that he is, came to my aid and we got to work in time to take the kids to Taughannock park for a field day.  AAA towed my truck to Erik's so that we could work on it later.

Wednesday was a half day.  We spent the first part of the day dealing with chaos at school and the second half dealing with the truck.

 

The good old Hayne's book.

Oops.  New alternator had to be snaked down through all kinds of crap.  We had to remove a bunch of hoses, which went find, but when we reattached them, this one got tightened too much.  The plastic on the top of the radiator cracked right off like it was designed that way.

New radiator: $135.  Plastic pipe and epoxy: :$10.  Will it hold?  Time will tell.

While Erik and I worked on the car and made some grappa, Vinnie dug the dead woodchuck out from under Erik's stoop.  Truly yeoman work.  I was very impressed... also gagging.

So, for some time, I've wanted to have a way to carry my axe and saw and coffee all at the same time.  Obviously, that is one more tool than I have hands.  As usual, google had the answer.  And, as usual, someone else had already done something cool.  Ray Mears sells something like this on his website, but after looking at it, I figured with Sarah's help, this wouldn't be an impossible project.  After making a guard and a mask for the axe, the only thing left to do was to make a backpack.

Fine sewing and carpentry by Keith.

Looks good, but it's supposed to rain all week and rusty tools are no good.

Beeswax from the Farmer's Market.  Next year we'll just go to the back yard and harvest our own.

Mix linseed oil and beeswax, melt and paint on.  Use a hairdryer to melt it into the fabric, and let it dry.

Hands free axe carry.

Oil cloth will keep it all dry.

That's 50' of paracord woven into a strap.

Happy guy.  New toy.  Home made.

Another happy guy with his tools.  This is Erik's kid, the Bandit, with his new hammer and apron.

Vinnie and I are heading out on a canoeing trip tomorrow, so I took the canoe down to the swamp this morning to make sure it floated.

Jonas came along, too.

It was rainy, but beautiful, anyway.

The swamp looks like a rice paddy and reminds me of images of Vietnam.

Just a couple days too early for this flower.

Self portrait.

All packed up and ready to go.

Sit vis vobiscum.

Home on the range

We're now solidly into the spring (thankfully) and have been outside a lot. We get out in the winter, too, and we try not to complain about it, but the warm sun really gets us going. What follows are a few photos of our recent weeks since we got back from Philadelphia.

Now that we're not burning so much wood in our stove, it's time to start cutting wood for next year.  In the spring we approach this chore at a leisurely pace, so for a little bet of fun and exercise I've been dropping some of the trees with my axes.  And lookin a bit menacing at the same time.

Don't worry, I always have attentive supervision.

One day a couple weeks ago Hobbs came out to help me with some homework.  He was so happy and active... I have to admit he was a bit of a distraction for me.

He seems to be asking, "Is that all you've gotten done.  Here, let me poop on your computer; maybe that'll help."

This is an axe head that Nathan gave me awhile ago.  It was a big, beautiful, rusty mess.  After some clean up and a new handle, it looks pretty good.  It cuts even better.  Seriously, this is my new favorite felling axe.

I had to rehang my favorite limbing axe, too.  I love this little axe, and learned, again, about using the right tool for the right job.  This axe is for limbing and chopping kindling.  It is NOT for splitting logs.  So... learned that the hard way.

Three rehung axes and a rejuvenated blacksmithing hammer that I can't wait to use.

One day of my spring break I helped Jenn and Zhora transport some hay bales from one farm to their farm.  They have goats now and goats need food.  We went for a hike to the top of their beautiful property and looked out over the valley.

The farmer's market is officially open!  Cold, but open.

Sarah is teaching me to sew and to use her sewing machine!  I LOVE working with her on anything.  It's such an amazing feeling to teach and learn from/with her.  As always, we have close supervision.

We are in the early days of this complex sewing machine, so there are a lot of direction reading breaks.

This is what it would look like if you put a machine in front of a cave man.  Unfortunately, I am not acting.  This is what I actually look like.

April 7.  Happy anniversary 21st amendment!

Take a close look.  This is what the kitchen looks like right now.  If all goes well, in two weeks it will look completely new!  ... Well, not the nasty linoleum, that has to wait, but the counters will be new at least.

Mom and dad came for a visit last weekend and we had so much fun.  This photo is of the result of the fun.  Everyone needed to take a nap!  I think this is after the Cornell Vet Hospital's open house.  Mom helped out all morning, then we toured it ourselves, then we went to lunch, then we worked around the house... then we napped.  That huge box from frozen turkey taco filling is full of papers that I still need to grade.  Teaching is so cool because we get so much time off and tenure is easy and all we have to do is put some overheads up.

We also worked in the yard and did A LOT of problem solving and prep for the concrete counter tops.  It was great to have Dad around for measuring and problem solving.

On the final night of their visit we carved a few more hours out and had a fire and looked at the stars through the astronomical binoculars Ian and Eleftheria got us as a wedding present.  It was amazing to see the Pleiades and the Orion nebula.  Sarah and I are really looking forward to the next full moon!  Hopefully there will be a full moon sometime this summer when everyone is around.

The next day I had to take a little nap after school.

 

Indy tried to help rock my hammock.

Sarah has been talking about this drink for a month or so now.  She and Jenn went to a mixology class at the Argos Inn and learned all about shrub and sampled lots of amazing sounding drinks.  I'm pretty skeptical about any drink made with bourbon besides a glass of bourbon, but I'd heard so much about the Woodsman that I had to try it.  We had a wonderful time sipping our drinks, chatting in the sunshine, and trying to tune out the sound of "jazz" coming from the other room.  It sounded like a bunch of drugged emus running through a music shop.  There was quite a crowd gathered pretending to understand it, too.  Kind of like modern art.  I know... no culture.

And this is from this past Sunday.  Sarah  and I finished up the forms to pour the concrete into for the counter tops.  It was a lovely day, made all the more lovely by working together on a house project. 

Strict supervision.

Not related to the countertops.

Not related to the chainsaw.

FINALLY!

What's next?!

Till next time!