As soon as we got back to Cape Cod in mid April we met with our builder and he told us that we could start working on our remodeling project. That news took us by surprise.
Everyone knows how long this has taken and how many set backs we have
met. All along Chris and I have expressed an interest in being
included in the work and Paul has agreed that we can be there every step
of the way. Being involved will save us money and make us feel invested
in our house.
Our first assignment was literally awesome. If we could do it we would
save $1000 in labor fees so we were ready to try. We had to fulfill the
Conservation Committee's requirements of installing a "work line limit".
This involved placing 100 straw hay bales along a three hundred foot
designated line. We didn't think this would be a problem until we saw
the huge pile that was thrown off the truck. So it looked like a lot but
we figured if we paced ourselves we would be able to get it done. That
was what we thought until we tried picking one up and realized that each
bale weighed 50 pounds. Now 50 pounds times 100 bales is 5,000 pounds,
isn't that right? Kind of makes you feel weak in the knees. But Chris
had a strategy. He had a 2 wheeler in the garage and we figured out how
to use it to move the bales around. When we were done, and we did get it
all done in a day, we couldn't believe how long a line there was snaking
around our property. We took lots of pictures to chronicle the effort
and went back to the lake house where we are living victorious but
exhausted.
The next days assignment was to research, purchase, and install the silt
fence behind the hay bales. This is black fabric with stakes attached
that we had to pound into the ground about every 6-8 feet. Once again,
three hundred feet looked like a lot of territory to cover but we just
stuck with it and watched the ospreys soaring through the air and diving
for fish. We are so lucky to be working in such a beautiful place. The
sky was blue and it was actually a warm spring day. At the end of the
day we set up a couple of chairs, enjoyed a glass of wine and admired
our property trimmed with materials that say "A construction project is
about to begin here."
But we knew the biggest challenge was yet to come. On the third day we
had to install 2 three foot stakes in every hay bale. Yes, the count is
200 stakes driven through the bale and then into the ground. This looked
almost impossible to do when we eyed all those stakes piled up in the
garage. So we thought that we would just make a goal for the day of
getting 100 feet done. Chris started pounding the first couple of stakes
in. I thought I would help by placing them in the bale until I
discovered that if I put all my body weight into it I could push the
stake almost all the way through the bale. That meant that Chris only
had to pound it into the ground. It was a gray day and only about 40
degrees but we just kept at it and along the way I got into pounding the
stakes in also. We ended up putting in 175 stakes before we just
couldn't swing the mallet any more. But looking back along the property
we just couldn't believe that we had done it. We still have 25 stakes to
do but that feels like nothing and left it for another day.
On Monday we will photograph our work and present it to the Conservation
Commission. If accepted they will stamp our application and we are ready
for the septic system to be installed. In order for that to happen my
brother is coming from Vermont to take down the trees within the
construction zone. WE are hoping that this will give us even better
water views. But that's for another day.
It seems like we are starting this project just at the right time. The
ospreys have returned to the nest at the end of the street. The
daffodils I planted last fall are just about to bloom. Summer neighbors
are returning to their cottages and we hear kids playing baseball across
the water. The docks are going in and the herring are swimming up stream
to spawn.
