Here it is October already and we haven't updated a post in a while. Let's get started.
While clearing and leveling some trails on the camp I noticed I had picked up some hitchhikers.
Then the neighbor's tree across the road decided to fall across Academy Road which is the road in front of our house. In fact, the gravel just right of the man standing in the road is our driveway. if you look closely you will see what looks like a crooked tree or post by the drive. That WAS the 150,000 volt power line that carries the power to this area, including the camp.
This is one of the branches I cut from the tree that the power line fell into. It was a three phase line and unfortunately did not take all three phases out at the same time. The result was the loss of a single phase and at the camp the loss of a couple of large three phase motors, including the pump motor for the pool. By the time we found a replacement three days later the pool was a lovely shade of green. To make things a bit worse, there were 500 kids there for summer camp.
I thought this would be a fitting transition.
The clutch on the Grasshopper mower locked up and wiped out the bracket which keeps it from rotating. We replaced the clutch---
---and after a bit of torch, hammer and welding we had a renewed bracket.
Oh yes, at the same time a bolt fell out of the manifold of another mower and the resulting vibration broke the manifold. Again, with a little preheat and some cast welding rod I was able to put it back into production.
Do you remember the ramp we built for one of the cooks when her husband was sick? He unfortunately passed away two weeks later and we dismantled the ramp and were able to shift it to a house with a young boy in a wheel chair.
The husband was away working much of the time and his wife had to disassemble the chair, carry and the boy to the car and transport him to doctor visits.
Now with the ramp, he cam roll himself to the car and ---
---with the modification of the gate, the dogs are kept in the yard.
In July Billie and I made our first major journey to Denver for our grandson's wedding. On the way back we stopped at the farm I grew up on and noticed termite damage on the front of the garage. After tearing away all of the damaged material---
---and assisted by my brother---
---we replaced the plywood---
---and all of the bad siding---
---and with a coat of primer and paint, the garage is ready for another 40 year.
Tadaa!
Another chore we accomplished while there was to power wash the 150 year old house.
Then it was time for another knee replacement. This is one week after the surgery---
---then back to the same therapist that helped me with the other knee a year earlier.
Then it was back to work. We were rebuilding one of the mower decks when we found seven cracks in the frame. To stop the cracks from migrating I drilled a hole in each end of the crack---
---ground off all of the paint---
---then welded each crack closed.
There is a group of four or five men from Virginia who try to come to the camp once a year for one large project. This year it was to remove the old leaky windows from three rooms---
---lay block in the empty space---
---adding necessary openings for additional air conditioning. I truly hope they finish all of the block work before their week is up as I am the only one here who has ever laid block.
