It’s been an amazing summer here in the Adirondacks. The weather has been hot and humid with little rain throughout June and July. Greg’s made the most of the weather, working non-stop on ‘around the house’ projects. I am relishing the retirement lifestyle, doing my own thing and occasionally assisting him with holding this piece of wood or painting that piece of post.
We prefer to stay at home in the summer and welcome friends and family to share this beautiful area with. This year we had some early guests as the neighborhood was overrun with black bears. A few photos shared by neighbors:
The local experts say we had 4 or 5 bears roaming about and there were lots of sightings. We did see at least one of the bears but alas! I am too slow with the phone and missed the photo opportunity. When walking down the road I took my “poke ’em in the eye” walking stick, something akin to Dumbo’s feather to relieve me of the concern of running into my ursine neighbors. Not sure it would do anything except leave something for the rescuers to find and identify my remains with…JK.
Another exciting event was our ‘boulder-rolling’ experience. At the time of building the house several boulders were moved downhill of the foundation. One in particular rolled a little too far, eventually leaning against a small tree trunk. Well, it’s been a few years and the tree stump has rotted and become unstable and the boulder was moving in small increments, threatening our little lean-to and anyone passing on their way down to the lake. Not to mention the possibility of the boulder rolling all the way to the water and potentially taking out the dock and the boat. So together with Dan and girlfriend Anna, Greg worked to release the boulder with no real way of knowing where it would end up. I stood helpfully(?) aside and out of the way filming the whole thing. They rocked the boulder until gravity took over. It rolled maybe one revolution and stopped halfway down the hill. No humans, animals, docks or boats were harmed. Unfortunately I can’t post the video unless I upgrade my WordPress account so you will have to settle for before and after pictures.
And as for Greg’s summer building project, or at least one of them, he upgraded our rustic entry stairs. I mean, he REALLY upgraded the stairs and now we have a covered entrance that I absolutely LOVE!!!! They should be a real blessing when entering and exiting during inclement weather. THANK YOU SO MUCH HONEY!!! Before and after pictures once again:
My new reality 