Forgot to post before bed last night!

Not a lot of time spent actually at Camp yesterday.

In 1963 when Dad moved out of the dorms at Clarkson, he realized he didn’t have a comfy chair.  He went downtown Potsdam and bought one–a really nice La-Z-Boy recliner.  He kept it and it was in our living room until the upholstery started to rip. I took it from my parents who didn’t want it anymore.  It is the most comfortable chair in which I ever have sat.  I used it for some years with a fitted cover on it until it mechanically broke.  It occupied the tiny foyer of our home for the better part of the last decade until I finally, about 2 months ago, took it to Fleming’s Fine Furniture in Malone to be repaired.  Al, the guy in charge of the repair shop, was almost giddy when I dropped it off.  I don’t think he had ever seen one that old!  Several weeks later he called to say it was all done and ready for pickup.  Yesterday Dad and I took his truck to Malone to pick up the recliner.  I’m not going to share the amount I was charged for this service, but let’s just say I was VERY happy and very impressed!  If ever I am in the market for new furniture, Fleming’s in Malone will be my first stop!

We took the chair straight to an upholsterer in Ausable Forks.  He probably won’t get to it until October; but I’ve waited this long!  Amanda and I will visit him in a couple of weeks to pick out fabric.  From Ausable Forks it was up to Peru to pick something up for Mom and then back to Camp by way of Ausable Chasm where we stopped to watch the work being done on the hydroelectric dam.

It was late afternoon and we all got ready for dinner–our cousins took us out to dinner at Dana’s Rusty Anchor in Valcour.  Always delicious!  We got back to Camp around 8:00.  I enjoyed a beer and a cigar on the porch and went to bed early.

1. An appropriate running board for a plumber’s truck!
2. Dana showing off his new stemware.
3. Work on the Chasm dam
4. The new choke “knob” I put on the Sea Doo yesterday #RedneckEngineering

Woke up around 8:00.

The cousins decided today was the day to see Ausable Chasm.  A good choice, given the weather forecast for the rest of the week.  I gave them a personal tour.  We opted for the riverwalk, as the youngest was not quite tall enough for the Adventure Trail.  I had forgotten about the accompanying adult requirement for the tubes, and so designated myself as such for the kids (9 and 13) who wanted to take the tubes instead of rafting.  Just as well, as I had never done it before.  But I wasn’t dressed for it.  Oh well!  Also, I should have had a heavier breakfast.  I ran out of calories about 2/3 of the way through the hike.  Hooray for fat reserves! (?)

I suggested Clover Mead Café for lunch, but they aren’t open early in the week.  So back to Camp for lunch it was.  After lunch I took a swim/bath. (Ivory: The Soap That Floats!)  Then I went into town to pick up some odds and ends at the hardware store, Red Stripe at Arnold’s Grocery, and gas. The odds and ends included plumbing for a custom toilet paper holder, zip ties to repair the flag pole that hangs our Canadian flag on the boat house at Camp, and a small collar with a set screw to jerry-rig the choke handle on one of the Sea Doos.  (Or, as the guy at the hardware store called it, “Redneck Engineering.”)  It worked!

I played banjo for a bit and then prepped the boat for an after-dinner ride.  I took the kids and their grandpa over to Port Kent.  LCT has been storing the Valcour ferry there this Summer, which is odd.  We looked it over and then I took them out to Ferris Rock and told them the story of how the Valcour ran aground there in 1975. We returned to Camp. I covered the boat because of the rainy forecast.  While we were out, Kelly and Dean came down to visit. (Happy Anniversary!!) I did the dinner dishes, tried new ink cartridges in my portable printer (they “fixed” it), and am heading to bed at 11:30 after publishing this post.

Slept in until 9:30!

Breakfast…waiting for the rain to come.  Watched the lake go by for awhile and eventually picked up my stuff in preparation for a scholarship luncheon my parents hosted today.  As guests started to arrive, I realized rain was also about to arrive and ran down to the dock to cover the boat.  While the luncheon was in progress, I called into a meeting at work.  By the time that was done, most of the guests had left and we had Camp to ourselves again.

I waited for the rain to stop for a bit and put the battery back in the Sea Doo.  Success!  It started right up.  I decided to make sure it was okay and went for a ride around the bay.  🙂

While dinner was cooking, our cousins arrived from Toronto to spend the week.  We ate while they got unpacked and situated, having stopped at Clare & Carl’s on their way in.  Then Family Time on the porch for the rest of the evening!

Sorry…I wasn’t much of a shutterbug today!  But here’s a picture of cousins Jaqueline and Ashton exploring the beach.

I’m spending a full week at Camp this year.  Let’s see how far I get with journaling it.

I left home around 9am and got to Camp at about 11:30.  Kelly (sister) was there with Mom & Dad.  She and Mom went to prepare beds for our cousins who are visiting later in the week.  Dad and I decided to go check out what was going on at Ausable Chasm.

The water in the river is near its all-time low.  There was some rain today–the first in a long time, but it won’t be enough to bring the water up.  Rafters are not able to traverse the rapids.  Indeed, even a raft with a lone guide had trouble getting through to pick up her passengers who had to walk around the rapids!

Whirlpool Basin is the lowest I have ever seen it.

Dean (brother in-law) and I moved the dock and boat hoist out for the third time so far this year.  The lake level is below 95 feet (above sea level) and falling.  Mission accomplished, Mom, Dad, Kelly, Dean, and I took the boat for a ride down Willsboro Bay and back.  Despite a raininy morning, it was a beautiful day on the lake!

While we were waiting for dinner to cook, we sat on the porch.  Seeing a massive plume of dark smoke on Trembleau Point, I hopped in the boat to investigate.  By the time I got out there there wasn’t much to see.  I suspect someone had started a fire using a serious amount of yard waste–probably a lot of pine needles.  The plume we saw from Camp had settled down to a haze that drifted down the bay and which we could smell back at Camp 45 minutes later.

Me on my way back to Camp:

After dinner, I futzed with the Sea Doos, which never seem to run exactly right for us.  The 3-seater’s battery was dead, but the 2-seater fired right up.  Both needed gas.  I removed the dead battery.  It’s charging overnight.

I put the boat on the hoist and then took to preparing a replacement manifold I had to order for my Dad’s air compressor, having broken it 2 weeks ago while working on his lawnmower.  Fortunately, it’s a standard part and was both cheap and easy to find online.

It’s ready to go.  I’ll install it some time this week, while I still remember where everything goes.

More porch time with Mom while Dad went for a walk.  When he returned he reported seeing a young deer lazing about in the weeds in the ditch next to the road.  He walked past very close and the deer did not flinch.  It was still there on his way back.  It seemed healthy…it just had no interest in being anywhere else.

I went inside to post some pictures on Facebook. Amanda called to say goodnight.  (She stayed home because she has a conference in Boston this week, but doesn’t leave until Tuesday morning.)

That’s it for today.  I’m going to bed (11pm).  Here’s a picture of a fawn I saw on the beach north of Camp shortly after arriving today: