Morgan's 8th Birthday

We went on a canoe trip down the Nashua river. We were out for over four hours and I think everyone had a good time. We don't own a canoe and renting one was kind of expensive so I think if we were to do it more we would get a used a canoe.

Sept 11th was Morgan's 8th birthday. I don't recall being old enough to have an eight year old? My mother won a birthday party at an aerobic dance place from a soccer raffle. The raffle took place in June and we didn't get the prize until the end of August. The person in charge of the raffle was extremely incompetent and I think she wanted to keep the prize for her own use. By the time we got it we could not make an appointment in time so we tried to give it to someone else to use but that didn't work out. So the whole thing was a waste and we won't be participating in that raffle in the future.

After Morgan's birthday we went to Davis Farmland. It's an old dairy farm converted into a petting zoo. The kids really enjoy going there and we normally get discounted tickets.

Gwen's 3rd Brithday

This year for Gwen's third birthday party we combined her party with her best friend's party. Hannah is the daycare director's daughter and her birthday is a couple weeks before Gwen's. So we got the room for free and split the cost of the creature teacher. He has a slew of animals he brings. Most of them he lets the kids touch and he explains a little about each one. The kids seemed very interested and most were excited to touch every animal.

Camping

We went camping this summer in Sturbridge Ma. Yes, that is where Old Sturbridge Village is located. Every local school child went there on a school field trip. Its a museum based on a village from the 1830s. They have many old buildings, the staff dresses in period clothing but sadly the gift shop and restaurant do not charge 1830 prices. 1830 is before the civil war but a whole generation after the revolution. At this stage the U.S. has clearly established itself as an independent country separate from England.

We lucked out because many of the trade shops like the lumber mill, grist mill, and black smith were around and operating so we could talk to them and see how they did their job. I asked the lumber mill guy how they dealt with the saw jambing and he said it never jambs. "Of course it jambs" I said "I was asking for the benefit of the kids. You would use wedges and a mallet to spread apart the logs which un jambs the blade." The guy rolling his eyes said you are right, but this particular saw has never jambed on us.

The cooper (barrel maker dude) was not around, but you could see his shop. I was showing Morgan how to operate the clamp to make the stays (wooden pieces). Basically the clamp holds the board so you can put an angle on the edges with a very sharp blade you pull towards your crotch. Safety was not a high priority. Another example. To smooth a beam you would use an adz which is like an ax with the blade turned 90 degrees like a hoe. You stand on the beam and swing the adz towards your feet. If you miss the beam you will likely take out a toe or your shin. In fact the term half assed is derived from half adzed which is to mean the beam is only half done - most likely because the operator injured himself half way thru the project.

Morgan seemed very interested in how they made clothing. We found women dyeing yarn and they explained they used all sorts of herbs, bugs, and what not to make different colors, but a key ingredient in the process was ammonia. I asked where they got it and they really didn't want to answer which is when it hit me. The only source of ammonia they would have had at the time was urine....Yuck. Anyway since Morgan showed an interest in the whole process I thought I might take her to the Lowell mills museum. Its a couple of mills which highlight how cloth and clothing was made in the latter half of the 19th century in Lowell Ma. I believe they focus on young girls horrid working conditions. Anyone who is anti union and anti government regulation should check it out. History repeats itself if you forget it.

Chicken Run

There is a great disconnect in our modern society between our dinner plates and the farm. I thought it important to show Morgan how a chicken becomes our dinner.

Roof

I couldn't figure out why I had so much raw footage on the camera. Its because I hadn't made a video in a really long time.

The Kimball household has been a bustle of activity. I have completed two major projects in the last month and half. The roof project which you are about to see and we put in bamboo flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room, and front entry and hallway. It looks snazy and you will get to check it out in future videos.

We also gained a new member to the family....a kitten named Maggie. I don't like cats and this one likes to pounce on me while I sleep. Its worse then a new born child. When I say pounce she aims for a certain appendage I'd like not pounced on. Aside from that she is very patient with Gwen. Gwen is very rough and doesn't realize she is a living thing and not a toy. So Gwen has spent more time then usual in time out.

Easter 2010

I think this is the warmest Easter we have had in a while. As usual the Easter bunny paid us a visit and hid eggs thru out the house. Unfortunately, the house is a disaster. I'm putting in a new floor in the dining room so we have the dining room table in the living room. I'm sure the construction site made the Easter Bunnie's job that much harder. Oh well he can deal. I will say one thing. The Easter egg hunts now a days are completely different from when I was lad. Morgan and Gwen work together and do not fight...at least during the hunt. When I was a lad it was cut throat. Anything goes, and the strongest of the fittest. Damn good thing I was the oldest.

The Living Room

A year ago now we refinanced the house. We originally had one of thus funky 80/20 mortgages where you get a mortgage to pay the down payment of another mortgage and avoid PMI. The whole thing was shady but it was the only way at the time we could swing buying a house. Then the bubble burst. Anyway now we have one normal mortgage and we got a kick ass rate.

During that we had to have the house appraised twice. Both appraisers said get rid of that old 1950s ceiling as fast as you can in the living and dinning room. While I ripped the ceiling down I took down the plaster walls, insulated, rewired, fixed some plumbing issues, ran new network, phone, cable lines and so on. Normally when I redo a room it takes a couple months tops but this project took 9 months from start to finish. I really wanted to push my finish carpentry skills to the limit and that takes time.

We still have to install new floors. We plan on putting in solid bamboo flooring. It looks good, its durable, cheaper then oak, and is environmentally friendly. Before I can install the new floor I need to replace the front door. It is original to the house and the house was built in the 1900s. The door is drafty, the door knob doesn't work right, and its covered in a million layers of lead paint.

Sorry, I don't have the before pictures or any videos of the construction. I made them, but its been 9 months and I haven't a clue where I saved them.