One For Tony

My brother loves boats. All three of my brothers can sail, but I think of the three, Tony was the best sailor, and he loves boats the most. This is the sloop Woody Guthrie in Beacon harbor. It's owned by an organization that promotes cleaning up the Hudson River:

http://www.beaconsloopclub.org/

They are similar to Clearwater, started by Pete Seeger:

http://www.clearwater.org/

Woody Guthrie (the folk singer who wrote such songs as "This Land Is My Land, This Land Is Your Land") was a mentor to Pete Seeger (who wrote "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "Puff The Magic Dragon"). Pete Seeger is still alive, and still performing throughout the Hudson Valley.

Jennifer recently read that the name for the Clearwater came from a Judge Alphonse Trumpbour Clearwater, a NY judge who from Kingston, NY who was pro-environment. The book she is reading is called "The Power Broker", which is about Robert Moses, the man responsible for the bridges, tunnels and other large public works in NYC.

This one's for Laura

SWM Likes Snapper – not into housecoats, likes white socks, has small delicate hands to push Snapper around, keeps patch trim. Seeks blondie SWF into Snapper and Jaeger bombs. Serious inquiries only.

Tool Repair, Porch Painting, Herons and Ferries

First is a shot of the clamp that holds the blades in my reciproctating saw. That round spring clip that goes around it costs $0.65. I had to pay $8 to get it shipped to me.

Second is a picture of the steps, primed and painted by Jennifer, then a shot of the deck - more demolition by Jennifer and she started painting the deck on the far end.

Fourth is a great blue heron near the train station, last is the Beacon Ferry waiting for passengers to go to Newburgh.

Not show is the gutter repair work. I conquered my fear of heights briefly to put up a 19' downspout where there was none.

More work on the porch this weekend. How Stoic of us (if you get that joke, I'll buy you a pizza).

Oh, and we'll take our first trip to the dump soon!

Blair Witch Project Revisited

This is a tip of the hat to Pat, Bob, Ken, and Willy. Back in the Summer of Hell, 2003, they did some performance art that recalled the Blair Witch Project. Maybe Ken has a photo he can send in.

Anyway, I found these items underneath the porch. I think they are rose trellises. There is a photo way earlier in the blog of them, I think. I don't know why there is a purple halo and the appearance of birds. Perhaps it was dirt on the lens and some reflection of the Sun. Perhaps it was witchcraft?

j

Paint scraped, some painting done, steps in

Jennifer just about finished clearing up the deck of the porch, and she painted the part of the house that faces the porch. She also primed the steps after set them up.

The second photo is Mt. Beacon caught in a cloud. Local history has it that fires were lit atop the mountain to warn if the British were near. Hence the name of the mountain and the town.

UGH!

Today I uncovered more crap under the porch. We decided that a complete replacement was not in the budget for now, so I shored up what is there as best I can. Here is what it looks like, propped up with bottle jacks.

Finding an electrician

Our hunt is nearly over. We have three bids - $5250, $5500, and $12000, all for the same job. One more bid is due, we think it will be on the lower end of that spectrum.

I was very surprised at the disparity. It was explained to me that the guy who bid $12k may not need the work. Fine, he ain't getting it.