As school gets started for the kids around the area, I find we learn all sorts of lessons here as well. After our traditional stops at the big three – Menards, Cub Foods, and Home Depot (big thanks to Bill and Jenny!!!!!) we headed north.
Lesson 1. While our founding fathers did a bang up job clearing the land, it is not a strength of mine – even with power tools. Slowly but surely I’m clearing out overgrowth and undergrowth. I was fortunate to not run across any bears, although I don’t know if I can credit it to the protection of these two (big black lumps = “guard dogs”.)
Lesson 2. 3′ x 6′ windows are just as good as 6′ x 3′ windows when you get them cheap off of Craigslist (I made a plea to a famous Minnesota based window company to help, but to no avail, so we had to improvise). These look fantastic compared to the plywood and styrofoam motif and will seal out the elements (and racoons) for now.
Three down, three to go. We have two, still searching for the last one. They won’t all match – except for the lack of plywood on them – but they will do the trick for now.
At night, you can now see in to the old ceilings. Love it!
Lesson 3. Wild plums are tasty, but it’s going to take a lot of these to make a pie. These came off the tree by the house and are about the size of large grapes.
Lesson 4. Ponds are fickle, enjoy them while you can. Through this clearing was the pond. Now, well, not so much.