July 2010 Archives

Visiting the kids in Adams, MA

By Elizabeth on July 31, 2010 9:16 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Since our sailing vacation was cancelled (postponed), due to 1) our not being ready, 2) the boat not being ready, 3) potential babysitting services being required due to parental injury and 4) the final straw, Pipe C leaking the oil out of the engine - we had this great opportunity to spend some time with our favorite kids in western ma, Zach and Tab. Always a pleasure to spend time with these two. We anticipated leisurely walks, heady conversation, wonderful views, good eats, cool nights and who knows what else! All our expectations were fulfilled and more.

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Norman on the trail up to Jones Nose, Mt. Greylock.

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Birdwatching is a sedentary sport. Zach, Tab and E on the lawn of Field Farm Guest House, Williamstown.
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E&N on Round's Rock Trail, scenic view looking south-west.

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On the way home, on Route 2. This is the French King's Bridge, built in 1932. We have to do some research on who the French King was.

Laying a paver surface

By Elizabeth on July 29, 2010 10:14 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
So, while waiting for parts for Averisera, I thought, why not clean up the area between the garage and the neighbor's fence? We have stacked a hundred or so of old pavers behind the garage, from a former patio that was set under the big 4-trunk tree. Over the years, we've dumped our garden waste and clippings onto the dirt in this area, which has made it unsightly as well as poorly drained, since the level is now higher than the driveway.

25 cubic yards later of dirt removal (which we placed in low spots in the backyard and front strip between the sidewalk and street), we had a 6-inch deep area, 6ft wide and 16 feet long, approx 100sq feet. 

The second day, yesterday, we purchased 25 bags of paver rock and crushed rock, and another 16 bags of rock dust and sand. Lots of raking and pushing, tamping and stamping later, we had a pretty good surface. An improvised screed using a 2X4 smoothed everything out. Then came the laying of the pavers. This part went pretty quickly and was very satisfying. The age of the pavers gives it a nice lived on look, as if it had always been there. Norm put a nice little edging at the back end using some bricks we had recovered from the former patio.

Next we broomed sand and rock dust into all the cracks. I showered it to help it settle, and found some low spots. This morning I reset about 1/4 of the pavers to eliminate the low spots, and swept sand in the cracks again. Lucky for us, it's now raining, which will help the sand settle into the cracks without too much force, better than using the hose.

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Pipe "C"

By Norman H. Martin on July 26, 2010 8:14 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
IMG_3806.JPGSunday at the boat, we lifted the engine hatch and saw a pool of black oil.  Darn.  One of the lube-oil pipes had failed, draining the crankcase into the bilge.

Lucky we have the week off to effect the repair.


New Address

By Norman H. Martin on July 25, 2010 1:22 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
We've moved!

Sort of.  Blogger no longer works with our Pair Networks URL.  We migrated everything over to Movable Type.

More to follow.

Playing with Z

By Norman H. Martin on July 24, 2010 9:04 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
A busy afternoon with Z, water tools, and tennis balls. Life is good.IMG_3794.JPG

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