Former Palettes

I am stunned that I don't have a 'before' picture of the palettes to share. One more treasure that was revealed when the snow melted last spring -- there were probably 20 or more.   Some are currently being used to keep our stored stuff off the ground in the garage, some are under a pile of firewood.  A fellow freecycler helped us out by taking 4 or 5.  But there were still way too many. 

Happily, we recently put the majority of them to good use building ourselves a compost pile.  A multi-sectional pile to be precise - creating a home for those leaves that are about to fall (or at least some of them!)

Boats for Sale

Well the time has come to part with some of the herd.  We had a nice kayak paddle today, and think that's what we're most likely to use on the pond.  Now, we're hoping to fund part of the kitchen with the canoe and one of the metal boats.  Follow the links if you want to see the Craigslist ads.

It has been fun doing a little research on these boats - the AeroCraft was built in Michigan, probably in the 50's but possibly as early as the 40's or as late as the 60's.  They made some slick little speed and ski boats as well.

Boat Listing

The research we've done told us that the man who owned the property also had the Grumman distributorship for the area, so it's not surprising that one of the boats we found under the snow was a Grumman canoe.















Much lighter than you'd think, but I suppose since they started off making aircraft, that's not suprising.















Canoe Listing

Sauna?

The site plan shows a structure where there is very little remaining, and we were trying to figure out what it might have been.  After all, we wouldn't be allowed to build anything new within the 100' line from the water, but we can always rebuild/repair. 

Unfortunately, what is there doesn't give much of a clue.  We were thinking maybe a gazebo or tent platform from when it was a camp.  It's built into the side of the hill, faces the water, and has a pretty nice view.  Plus this rather cool looking stump remnant.  (Guess the plot plan is a little dated)

Then it was pointed out to us that no self-respecting Finnish group would be anywhere near a pond without a sauna.  Aha!

Now, I've enjoyed a sauna a few times in my life, but I'm not sure my own private sauna is high on my Christmas wish list.  And I haven't actually convinced myself (or anyone else in the family) to go in the pond beyond wading, so that dip in the pond after the sauna is still questionable.  So I think we'll just let this linger on the 'possibilities' list a while yet.

Break from Construction

We take a break from construction today to bring you a Swedish gymnastics group from the turn of the century.  This was a found object from my own parents, rather than something that came out of the walls here.  I suppose having reached the halfway point (at least!) it's reasonable to think about what goes on the walls once we're done. 

Not Finnish but Nordic at least, and probably neither group would be pleased about the display of the Swedes in the former Finnish Hall, so that seems about fair.

My great-grandfather (from whom Aidan's middle name comes) is in the photo - although we're not quite sure which fellow, I'm guessing it's one of the really tall guys in the middle. 

Pulleys

There are multiple pulleys along the ceiling.  If you look closely you can see one in the middle of this picture.  Gyp board and plaster is scheduled for next week, so you have to look quickly.

While a couple seem to have been used to pull a boat up into the rafters, we knew there had to be another explanation. 

Recently, after a spate of looking at light fixtures for the ceiling, Jonathan suggested a plausible explanation - to raise and lower any lighting (whether it's candles or bulbs you're replacing, it will take a long ladder!) 

Leaving Marks

As requested, the mason who was re-pointing the chimney closed the old opening on the second floor.

Following in the footsteps of many before him, he left his mark.

Just like Bill Batten in 1966  http://bukiharia.blogspot.com/2011/05/behind-wall.html, the mason who built the chimney in our former house, and many who have passed by wet concrete, his initials are now preserved. 

It has me wondering, where should we sign our house? What would I leave in a time capsule?  Sounds like a good summer project for the kids.

If you've done renovations, have you left something for future occupants to discover?

Funny Sandy Circles

I was looking out the 2nd floor bedroom window the other day admiring the view, when I noticed some odd craters in the water below.  

There are two visible above, between the reflection of the tree. 

As a side note, I did spend an hour the other day raking the beach and it's a little disappointing it doesn't look stunning already!  Lots more green stuff and moss to come out.

Anyway, I decided to go a little closer and find out what these circles could be.

They looked pretty identical once I got closer, and there were no hints (like eggs, turtles, or plants) that were going to help me.

There are about 5 in the front area, and as I walked around our point, I found several others.  I'm wondering if the recent storm smoothed out the sand so they are more noticeable, or if there was some event that created them (giant hail? tiny meteorites?)

So, back at the ranch, we fired up google.  Searches for sandy turtle crawfish (yes I saw a crawfish last weekend while raking!) , and snake nests didn't show anything remotely resembling this.  Really glad about the snake thing not having any hits.  Turns out it's a fish nest -- pumpkinseeds!  And, it's the males that make them. We'll have to keep an eye out in the next week to see how things evolve.

Behind the Wall

We now know when the firewall between the two units went up - the carpenter signed and dated a stud that will remain in the back of the half bath.

It's the stud in the middle of the photo - here it is larger and turned. 

Reads: Bill Batten, Concord MA July 12, 1966.

I'm thinking we should all sign as well before it gets covered back up....where would you sign your house?

Still Life with Wagon

I think this covers a lot of bases - music, water, and manual labor.  Suppose we could call it a composition in brown as well.  I think the anchor at least is a keeper....don't want any of those boats drifting off!

More Boat Accessories

I'm not sure we want to have the kids test these out, but we did find

A cabinet full of

Life preservers and one boat.  this one's plastic. 
But check out the lower right.  Not sure what exactly is going on here.

Yep it's a ladder going down into the floor.  This is in the basement/crawl space remember.

Seems to just be sand and some more crawl space.  Also a good place to check out the undersized structure that I was standing on when I took the picture. 

I think there may be some rainy day potential here - we can tell the kids there's pirate treasure and send them down with a shovel.  Or maybe we should go into the bootlegging business and keep our moonshine down there.  Winter veggie storage?  Any other good ideas?

Yankee Ingenuity

I was baffled by this one

Kind of funky 50's style sprinkler head, but what was it doing attached to the basement ceiling?

Unless of course you're next to a pond and want to shower off. 

(I wish I could take credit for puzzling this out, but credit goes to the better half.  He thought about the odd metal channel that ran just next to this, and the description of the basement/crawl space as a dressing room, and didn't even need a hose hooked up to figure out what was going on.)

School time

Up in the eaves, tucked behind an old metal bed frame was this beautiful specimen.

Brings back memories of architecture school. Yep, spent five years learning how to draft and then worked on the computer immediately thereafter. But I digress.

Someone's been working on some Greek letters on the right, but in general doesn't look like it got too much use. Anyone know if something like this would have been used for general schoolwork?

Made in Boise Idaho. 
Someone hand me a T-square!

Cool Artifact or Junk?

It's a very fine line sometimes.  Take these beauties. 

Clearly their best paddling days are behind them (although someone did extend those days with the black tape).  But wow, they just don't put graphics like these on the new paddles.

But how many cool old paddles (or boats for that matter) can really be used displayed or stored before you start tripping over them?  Keeping these babies for now...





Wacky Glass Mushroom

Jonathan found this one. 

Keys added for scale. 

I believe it's an old insulator from electric lines. 

 How it got here I have no idea.

Late Summer Warmth

Found some framed art near the dumpster...guess the guys couldn't quite bring themselves to throw it in with the mouse-stained insulation and ceiling tiles.

It reads,

The late summer warmth

coaxed the flowers on her teacup

into full bloom.

Can't wait for some of that late summer warmth. 

I may even unpack the teacups just to watch.

Punkaharju

This was in the shed

According to Wikipedia, Punkaharju, Finland was chartered in 1924, which had to be just about the same time the temperance hall was built. 

http://www.punkaharju.fi/

Photos from the municipal website look gorgeous - lots of water and green.  Looks like we'll need to brush up on our Finnish to get any more, though.

Sign is a lot newer than 1924 though, and no apparent nearby locations named Punkaharu or Punkaharju, so we'll have to imagine a lot of the story. 

....and I thought perhaps the added 'J' was a fishing hook!

(Looks like a nice bridge to fish off, doesn't it!)

Mystery Girl

Found in the ceiling above the oldest ceiling.

With a bottle (empty) of vodka.

Yes, we've taken the back apart to look, but there is no name, no date.

Love the bow. I'm thinking we'll talk Mairead into wearing a big bow as well.
Not.

The Treasure Box

A box, hidden in the fire wall between the two units - our hearts and minds raced with the thrill of this discovery!

Our contractor, Jacques, was hopeful that there was a nice, aged, bottle of wine.

Our thoughts ran to a time capsule, complete with newspapers, photos of campers, and maybe some wheat pennies or silver dollars.

Alas, it turned out to be a guest list for dinner (Elsie was responsible for bringing the meat), a few older napkins, and a handful of lace antimeccazers.

Maybe next time...

Rafter Boat, Part 2

Our bonus boat is out of the rafters.  Looks like some sort of a one-person (or maybe one-child) shallow rowing shell, but the ends are very rounded, not like the pointy shells you see racing on the Charles.  There are two foam inserts, presumably to help it float, at either end, and the narrower end seems to have a metal piece.   I did google various permutations of "photos of one man rowing shells with rounded ends", but no apparent matches. 

The sides are coming apart, so I don't think this baby is headed back to the water anytime soon. 

And, just in case you were worried that we wouldn't have a way to get around in all the remaining boats, there's a stash of oars in the lower level rafters, I'm sure there are one or two that will work.



Memorial Day 1968

Names on the back, but none that we recognized from the previous owners/relatives.

Looks like the town band, will probably take this one over to the library archives.