Raincharm’s Weblog

In the last week I have slept in 7 different beds.

• Hotel in A2
• Top old cot in the Pretty Good Room
• New cot in the PGR
• Bottom old cot in the PGR
• Double bed on the sleeping porch
• Guest bed at cousin’s house
• My bed at home

The PGR name is a play on those buildings that have a Great Room. While the main cabin is the largest room by far, we felt it was a push to call it Great, Pretty Good seemed more appropriate.

If I were rating the beds, home wins hands down. I slept fine on all of them. I needed to stretch most mornings, but I attribute that more to the work done while awake. I did feel the slats through the mattress on the new cot, so a demerit there. And the old bottom cot may have had a bit of sag in the springs.

The bed situation started when the family population started to expand, and G4 wanted to try out some new beds. The goal is to maximize sleeping spaces with acceptable comfort level while minimizing space taken away from daytime use, like chairs. And to me, not having large boxes take away from the Feng shui.

We did some imperical testing of layouts.

The layout that we ended up with is not perfect by any stretch. We’ll see what layout is in play when I return in August.

Getting ready to board the plane. It’s been a busy day so far, but I’ll soon be sitting for several hours.

A little chatting with Anne and Bill, and then Anne drove me to my dad’s apartment. But not before stopping to get a Fragle. This is a treat I loved in younger days and I thought it was lost to the ages. Apparently not. It is not something to eat every day, but a special treat. Thank you Anne and Bill for your hospitality. 💜

Dad and I got to spend a few hours talking. Mostly about the cabin, now and then. He was not at the cabin until the 1950s, but saw pictures and heard stories of its construction in 1924. The cabin was built by one man, maybe with a mule. He had the man’s name written down. He built the LOG cabin. The stone chimney was built by a second man, I think the next year. Dad has seen pictures of the chimney area covered by a tarpaulin.

Then I was picked up by friend Carol from my school days. We had lunch (lighter than a fragle) and a lovely walk around County Farm Park. She is such a good friend she drove me to the airport. 💙

Next post from the left coast.

Headed south today, courtesy of cousins. That meant leaving the cabin, slightly neater than when I arrived 5 days ago. It seems much shorter.

The drive was relatively painless, but of course I wasn’t driving. After an hour or so of reflecting and resting in low 80s, we headed to Dexter’s Pub for dinner. It was really tasty and hit the spot. No pictures.

A drive through the countryside (really? more driving!) and then more relaxing in the backyard before bed.

Speaking of the bedroom I will inhabit tonight in the landfill, I was almost startled to see two paintings on the wall that had been in the houses I grew up in. They were painted by my cousins aunt, who gave/sold them to my Mother many decades ago. When my parents home was sold, the paintings were rehomed.

Plans are in place for tomorrow, and I should be back to the west coast by the end of the day.

We started with a departure, Jane had to head downstate – work and all. But after she left the visitors started arriving.

First up was the plumber. He replaced the  4o-year old water heater and, after some wrangling with more 40-year old piping, replaced the p-trap under the bathroom sink, and it drains now.

The water heater upgrade begat some updates to our cabin opening and closing instructions. Typed and distributed to those who need to know.

Next up was the pest control guy. The 102-year old cabin has powder post beetles. They drill tiny holes in the logs and lay their eggs, sealing the opening with some of said dust. This creates a fine dusting under their work sites. When the eggs hatch they push out the dust that sealed them in. This visit was an inspection. They will be back next Monday to start treatment, both inside and outside. The treatment is a borate solution called Boracare, sprayed on all wood surfaces in the infected areas. After a month a second treatment will likely be required, and then maybe a third. I’m really happy we are finally getting this addressed.

The next visitor was for wood delivery. A face cord that we moved about 4 times.

And then, with visitors mostly complete, we started trying different furniture arrangements to squeeze in some newer cots. It was like a mover’s nightmare where the homeowner keeps asking them to move the furniture here, no there, no back where it was before.

And our final visitors, our cousins from next door. Good conviviality and a few shortbread cookies.

It was about 55 degrees inside the cabin today when we got up. By mid-morning it was warmer outside than in, so all the windows were opened.

And we got to work.

The final cupboards in the kitchen. Those with the things used everyday. Glasses, mugs, plates, bowls. And we continued to find items that were no longer needed, because they had been replaced but not retired. Again, we kept some historic pieces that are used infrequently, just because.

The main job for today was the shed. This storage area, behind the outhouse, has tools, hardware, chairs (think folding outdoor type), shovels, rakes, and sails and supporting equipment for a catamaran. It also held leftovers from prior projects. Some were retained and a lot of things are headed for disposal, including to a hazardous waste event next week (hopefully).

One piece, not shown in the photo, was the log splitter. This was the last item returned to the shed, after some logs were split. We also gathered wood from the beach for kindling. At this time of year heat management is paramount.

And then it was time for a beach day. Wading into the water and reading in the sun for a few hours. The water is still to cold to be inviting for me, but 3 kids down the beach were in.

We closed out the day with dinner with cousins next door. It was a wonderful repast and time to just hang out. When the sunset, so did we.

This morning at about 8 it was 47 degrees outside and 55 degrees inside. Coffee is the first thing everyone is looking for.  By the end of the day it was about 63 inside the big room. The kitchen end had been warmer, aided by the wood stove in a smaller space.

Today’s chores revolved around the continued reorganization of a lower revolving cabinet and several upper cabinets. Many items were relocated for easier visibility and moving some of the heavier items down low.

For those who keep tabs, the electric fryer was allowed to stay, now living in the lower revolving cabinet.

There were some historic and prettier pieces that had been shoved in and around other things. We decided they were seldom used anymore, but needed to stay. Displaying them seemed a good id ea. The percolator still works, (left of the blue pitcher) but it had a tendency to result in some grounds in the coffee. Plus we have much better coffee makers with filters now.

Still more to go through, but significant progress was made.

And there was a wonderful sunset tonight.

Today we got started on the great kitchen clean. A few of the primary storage areas were emptied and scrubbed. The contents were appraised for their value. Those found wanting were fired.

The reorganization includes trying to group like items and find them homes that make sense. While the yellow cabinet is essentially done, this task has not been completed. There is the drawer and cabinet next to the sink and the swing around cabinet that need be taken down and refitted.

And there is talk of inviting the dish cabinets into the fray.

Still on the horizon are the linens and the shed.

This visit to northern Michigan is intended to be a working vacation. Normal opening the cabin for the summer, and then going through items acquired over the last 102 years to see if some things can be pared down. Honestly any of the items that are from the first decades of the cabin’s existence will most likely be retained.

I stayed above ground while Jane went into the crawl space to connect and turn on the water. This is perhaps a little more effort than running a hose through the forest to my uncle’s well, as we did for many years. We’ve had our own well for almost 40 years now. Plus we, my parents, added a hot water heater at that time too. So hot water without boiling it on the stove, or in the stove when the wood stove was still in the cabin. One of the chores this year is getting a new hot water heater.

But once the electricity and water had been turned on, and some other basics handled, the sun on the beach called. Because you never know when the next beach day will be it would be irresponsible to ignore one.

It’s good to be here.

Got up at O-dark-30 to catch a flight, Step 1. Step 2 was to be a bus from the airport to A2. And Step 3 a city bus from downtown A2 to my Dad’s apartment.

But Steps 2 and 3 were replaced by pickup at the airport by Sister 1 and BIL. They had escaped from Canada just in time.

And so we arrived at our Dad’s apartment.  He declared I wasn’t supposed to be there yet (I had told him later based on Steps 2 and 3) and Sister 1 and BIL weren’t expected at all. (They weren’t on the calendar, so it shouldn’t be happening.)

I do think he was happy to see all of us and we had a good Chinese dinner together. I should have taken a picture, but we were involved in being there.

Mariner game today. In the sun I got down to just 1 layer. In 2 days I  should be at our family cabin where it was in the 30s today.

Packing for upper Michigan in any season means packing for all seasons. It is supposed to reach 60 by the time we get there.

And in addition to pleasant weather the Mariners won 5-4.