Now We're Cooking

  Here's Gail and our niece, Mariana, in the kitchen back around 2002 soon after Gail bought the house.  She painted the cupboards right away because they were a dark brown, but not much changed in the kitchen for the next 15 years.  We did get a new stove and refrigerator, and had the dishwasher with a hole rusted through it taken out and drawers put in for more storage, but that was about it.
  Gail decided it was time to get rid of the yellow counter top, the fan that didn't circulate, the sink with the crappy faucet, and the rounded shelves at the end of the counter.  Her (excellent) plan and design was to move the cupboards up, add more shelves and replace the rounded ones with a cabinet.
  We envisioned a late spring project, our contractor of choice, Scott, who did a great job with our bathroom and doors, tends to be in high demand.  When we had him come by to do the estimate he said he could get started in a few weeks (it was January).
  We also wanted to get the floors redone in the kitchen and dining room while we were at it, and the crew who did that were able to start even sooner.  So much for cooking out on the grill while this was going on and eating on the porch or patio.  We managed, and it was nice to sit in the recliner in the living room and open the fridge to grab a snack.

Now We're Cooking

  Once we moved all the furniture into the spare room, basement and living room the floor guys got started.  They sanded the kitchen and dining room and then put new sealant on.  These pictures were all taken after one day of sanding.  As you can see around the edges, the wood had turned pretty dark, and there were some bad repair jobs where vents or chimneys had been moved over the years.

Now We're Cooking

The floors were finished and immediately covered with particle board and paper to protect them during the kitchen work.  Gail has one last look at the yellow counter top.

Now We're Cooking

  The first task once the kitchen remodel got underway was to move the cupboards up so shelves could be added beneath them.  The blue paint indicates where the bottom used to be, that amount of space was above them which did little more than serve as a space to collect grime and dust.  As you can see in the top photo things aren't quite straight in our house, as you can see in the bottom photo, Scott is really good at making it look like they are.

Now We're Cooking

At it's most stripped down.  Cupboard doors, counter tops and sink all removed.

Now We're Cooking

  The counter top has been installed, it's Corian, nice stuff.  The cupboards all got painted in one day, it helped that it was 70 degrees out and they dried in about 20 minutes in the living room where I kept the pellet stove running.  It took a couple days to get them all back on.

Now We're Cooking

Everything is back in its (new) place and the walls all painted.  We finally got to uncover the refinished floors, the spices are up on the new shelf, and the new shelves below the cupboards are filled up.  Probably my favorite feature is the wooden box by the back door in the top picture; I can sit down and put my shoes on now.  That's important as I age.
  The new sink and faucet are nice too.  So are the counter tops.  And the shelves.
  Gail's cooking has always been great.

Now We're Cooking

  There goes the old kitchen to the transfer station.  No one was interested in the rounded shelves or the yellow counter.  By the way, we love Ithaca Car Share, especially when we need a truck.

Trees

  I got a request recently for pictures of big trees in Six Mile Creek.  Always happy to oblige something like that, so I went out on a fine, blue-sky day and shot up for a few hours.  It was a great trip.
  From the top:  A red oak with a diameter over 3'.  An undetermined species sporting some impressive boles.  The biggest tree I know of in the woods, a tulip poplar.  My skis leaning against it are just under 6' long.  The biggest dead tree, is it still a white pine if it's dead?  And a straight as an arrow shag bark hickory.

Winter Camping

 

It has come to my attention recently that posts from 3/07 and before don't display photos. Unfortunately I can't edit them to fix the problem. 
  This was discovered when I wanted to show someone the snow wall we built that year during our annual trip to Pharaoh Lake.  There have only been a couple years since 2000 that I haven't gone on this trip and it looks like this year may make a few.  Stay tuned.

Winter Camping

  This winter I opted for an Adirondack camping trip with different friends than usual and closer to home.  It only took 2.5 hours to drive to the trail head to get to Chub Pond in the Black River Wild Forest, as opposed to the 4.5 hours to get to Pharaoh Lake Wilderness.  I went with Adam, and Pete came up later in the day.
  It started snowing just as we arrived and really came down until after dark to give us about 4'' of nice powder.  The temperature really plummeted too and got down to 5 below zero, but Adam met the challenge by building a massive fire.  He was dumbfounded when I told him I don't make a fire when I go alone.  "That's not camping,"  he said.

Winter Camping

  Adam and I had a good ski to try to find the legendary Chub Pond lean to #1.  We couldn't find it, the trail hasn't been maintained in awhile and after crossing the bridge over the outlet the trail markers had been removed.
  The three of us took a beautiful hike along the Woodhull Creek.  The snow was rock-hard so we could simply walk on it in our boots and not sink in.  Adam and I turned back at the boat in the woods, Pete kept going and did a 15-mile loop.  He went passed his truck and decided to go out for dinner, sometime while eating or enjoying a beer he decided he was going to get back to the lean to, pack up and hike another 5 miles out in the dark and go home.

Winter Camping

  On the way in we saw the results from a week of temperatures in the 50's and 60's.  This snowmobile bridge ended in a flooded area of open water, not unusual as indicated by the foot bridge past that part for when there isn't snow.  But on the way out it was frozen solid enough for Adam to walk on the ice, I still took the foot bridge.  The snow was 3-4' deep a week or two before we went up and was reduced to 18'' when we got there.

Winter Travels

Gail and I went to BREIA near Tug Hill between Christmas and New Year for some fine skiing.  We stayed at a B&B and got a chance to visit the trails at all three areas.  BREIA stands for Black River Environmental Improvement Association, a combination of private property and donated land to the state by "Mr. Big" with an endowment to groom trails for free cross county skiing.  There are a few warming huts, one in downtown Boonville along the Canal Trail and the others in the woods.
The first day it was icy so we stuck to the level Canal Trail and got to check out the abandoned locks in the Black River Canal, the second day there was some fresh snow so we got out into the woods.  Then it really snowed so we skied for a few hours and headed south.

Winter Travels

The third day it was snowing about 2'' per hour.  We wanted to go to the third area but were afraid our rental car wouldn't get us up the steep hill, or back down if it did.  We knew we could ski up to it from the Canal Trail which meant we got to ski back down at the end in deep, fresh powder.
The warming hut in this area was the nicest, and Gail did some yoga while I skied alone a bit more.

Winter Travels

While I was out alone in the storm I felt the need to try the Barkeater Loop.  I ate a couple varieties.  We stayed at a unique B&B.  This is what the garage looked like, it was slightly less absurd than the situation in the house.  We were treated to excellent breakfasts and used the kitchen to cook dinner.  You'll have to ask about the dogs.