Up In Smoke

Up in Smoke

The big burn of the giant brush pile commences

Since last spring we have been looking at a huge brush pile in our yard
created by the trees that were taken down to make room for the new
septic system.  We have been waiting for burn season to return so that
we could get rid of it, but that can be tricky. The weather situation
has to be just right in order to get permission from the fire
department. So we were very fortunate on our first day back to discover that the
conditions were favorable, moderate winds and a high ceiling. It was
back breaking work to move all that wood a few feet to a safe place for
a fire. And as we were pulling and yanking on the branches, we heard
screeching overhead and looked up just in time to see the osprey
returning to their nest.  Back for another season just like us. We
hauled branches and tended the flames until regulations required us to
put it out but within 2 days all the brush was gone except for the ashes blowing on the wind. 

All that's left after two days of burning

-- 

  Glenna K. Outwin

In the Kitchen

In the kitchen

Chris and I just returned to Cape Cod after spending the winter in
Chicago. We brought back with us the butcher block counter tops that we
are using in the kitchen. Deciding on countertops has been the most
difficult decision we have had to make.
My heart was set on marble from the beginning. I was in love with the
classic white and gray look and the smooth feel of the stone. Three
years ago we had vacationed in  Lampereccio near Carrara and had seen
the white quarries. But I was quickly dissuaded by friends who asked me
if I could live with the etching and staining that would surly happen
from red wine and tomato sauce spills. But I longed for marble and
nothing else. 
If I wasn’t going to use marble then I at least wanted a countertop that
I felt I had a connection to. I considered a piece of soapstone from
Vermont where my niece and my brother live, or a piece of granite from
Nova Scotia where Chris’s parents had had a house for years.  I just
didn’t want a piece of stone shipped in from Brazilian on a cargo ship. 
Somewhere in this seemingly hopeless search we started thinking about a
wooden countertop. Chris has always liked the warm look of wood, and he
thought it was a great choice for a cottage by the water.
Old friends suggested The John Boos Company. I liked the fact that the company
had their own wood lot in Wisconsin where we had traveled recently and
that the Illinois factory was located where Chris and I had been living
part time for the last 9 years. 
While researching on line I discovered that if we ordered the
countertops from John Boos and picked them up ourselves we could save
40% of the cost. Wooden countertops were sounding better and better.
After a couple of discussions about dimensions with our general
contractor Paul and Norbert, the manager of the John Boos showroom we
were ready to order. 
Chris gave his final exams on Monday and we drove 225 miles south to Effingham
Illinois that afternoon. Early the next morning we struck out for the
factory. After trying to find it with assistance from our GPS, 2
iPhones and 3 calls to Norbert, we found ourselves on a rural road in
the middle of a cornfield.  At that news Norbert sent out a posse to
find us. As we trailed into the parking lot, we imagined him eyeing our
ancient Volvo. No roof rack. No trailer either. We could hear him
saying to himself, well for crying out loud how do you think you are
going to get this countertop back east.  We didn’t know, but we figured
Norbert would. 

125 year old John Boos Butcher Block Factory, Effingham, IL

Sliding in the 84 inch piece of butcher block

We knew the first thing we had to do was to unload all of our stuff and
eyeball the space. Someone suggested getting a tape measure. We put the
back seat down and measured from wheel hub to wheel hub. Sure enough,
the 4ft x 4 ft. piece would just fit. How about that! As we walked
around the car thinking about what to do with the other pieces, Chris
started to unroll my yoga mat on top of the roof. But hold on, how about
trying to fit one of the 7 footers in the back up on its edge.
Miraculously it just fit – stretching the length of the car. Next
question, could Chris and I squeeze into the passenger and drivers
seats?  We barely winced as we crunched ourselves in and envisioned the thousand miles of road before us. 
So Chris and I set a course east and drove for 2 days back to Cape Cod
with two 7 ft. butcherblock counter tops between us. We could see out of
all the mirrors, but had to call to each other to check the traffic on the
right before changing lanes or pulling onto the highway. We arrived on
the Cape just in time to have a birthday dinner with my mother and to
learn that our nephew and his wife had just had a baby daughter named
Lily. It was a long trip but we were safely home, and more than ready to see the carpenter cut and install this beautiful Wisconsin rock maple.

John Boos Butcher Block countertop