Fiske Farm Blog

Summer 2011 wk 3

Wed, 3 Aug 2011 17:55:31 -0400

Here is what has been accomplished so far:
1. Beam in basement replaced
2. New electrical panel
3. 2 pilings on pier replaced. can Identify because cross braces have lag bolts
4. Clock in dining room cleaned, polished and working again.
5. Jeep failed inspection due to tires, muffler, tailpipe. Glenn is changing out tire rims.
6. Plumber brought in to assess well and pump.
1. new index for electrical panel. figured out the heaters, but Parlor Heat doesn’t work.
2. Bought mattress for parlor-$270
3. Ceiling fan in utility room
4. new light over utility room sink

Notes:
-nails Glenn bought to do more work on the pier state: “do not use within 5 miles of ocean”! WTF?
-New lock put on pier parking. Combo-same as lock on pier-Dad’s Birthday M+day
-signed up for new recycling program at Hanneford: Clyck

We took a ride in the boat at high tide on Tuesday. Ocean was calm and beautiful. Went out by Walker’s Point.
Did a burn barrel one night, and used leaf blower to get the fire going after Glenn threw a lot of old wet wood pieces on it.
Another night he hooked up the bug zapper and that was our evening’s entertainment.

Summer 2011

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:41:13 -0400

The big projects this summer were to replace rotted poles at the dock, replace dry rotted beams in the basement and to upgrade the electric. That was accomplished the first week Glenn and Eric were there. They also put a ceiling fan in the utility room. I helped install a new light over the utility room sink. We are still trying to figure out the water pump and how to make it more reliable. Part of the problem was solved when we realized the upstairs toilet is leaking. We are still trying to find the right innards to replace what is there.
Need to:
1. Replace rotted poles at dock
2. Upgrade the ladder at the dock
3. Fix electric
4. Replace rotted beam in basement
5. Put Jeep on road
6. Tried to have it inspected it needs new tires, new muffler, and new tailpipe.
7. Talk to Lower Village Surveyors re: division of lots
8. Talk to Realtor to see if division is acceptable
9. Talk to Ralph Austin re: filing new deeds
10. New sill plates in bathroom
11. Think about upgrading Guest House bathroom
12. replace shower head in guest house.
13. weed and deadhead day lilies
14. prune forsythia
15. check new lilac bushes
16. paint boat trailer
17. fix tire on moped
18. Cut down volunteer pine trees on fence and Uncle Ed’s lot

Picnic Rock - Butler Preserve

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:50:23 -0400

Summer 2010

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:02:28 -0400

Took an hour walk with Bailey to Butler Preserve. Took the back trail and found our it comes out in the culdesac street of Ledgewater. Will have to look online and see if there is a trail map for Butler Preserve.
I worked on cleaning the upstairs bedrooms in anticipation of our guests-the Ilowits. Glenn worked on cleaning the garage, lower garage, and shed.
Bailey should be exhausted following me up and down the stairs.
The Cottage guests are off for the day going 2 and 1/2 hours upstate.

Bailey's Training Session

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:29:34 -0400

Dog Training re-cap:
Had a training session for Bailey and I with All About Dogs, George Quinlan in Kennebunk. Two and a half hour session and a lot covered. What I came away with was:
1. Dog Parks: they are stressful for Bailey. He is an older male that does not like to play with a pack of chaotic dogs. He just gets stressed out. Yes, he likes to meet dogs, but even with the trainer’s dog, he nipped at the dogs heels as he entered a dog tunnel. This is a “prey” maneuver and not desirable at dog parks. He starts out ok, but gets overwhelmed. Bailey lives in a human world and needs to learn to master that. Dog parks are open fenced in areas that you should use for off leash training, not as a lazy way for you to socialize while your dog runs wild and has to defend himself against other dogs.
1. Bailey is very bright, tires easily and must be given time to think things out before he will do them.
2. We are working on the following: “Look”-the ability to look the trainer in the eye instead of at the treat; “Off” to get him off of something; “Wait” - the ability to wait at a door while the trainer goes first and then invites him to come through the door; “Settle” - the ability to control his excitement - the trainer stands still with finger at lips like saying “shhhh”, but you don’t vocalize and wait until he calms down; “Come” - to call him when he is at a distance and have him come to you; “Rug”, “Meal”, or something to that , I haven’t decided - Bailey waits outside the kitchen on the rug while Glenn and I are in the kitchen fixing a meal; “Leave it” asking him to leave something alone-currently we use this when he attacks the vacuum cleaner; “Place” “Bed” or “Blanket” these are places we ask him to go to and lay down.
3. The house rules consist of 3 catagories of rules: 1.) things he is never allowed to do in the house, 2.) things he can always do, and 3.) things he must be invited to do. We are working on the latter regarding being on furniture and the bed. He must be invited.
4. Voice reward is priority followed by treats and then, for Bailey, touching. He loves to be touched so much that it should be saved as a high quality reward. The trainer should be a safe place for him to come back to. I learned not to use an angry “Come” even when he attacked the other dog. I must get him away from the situation. He will hesitate and even refuse to come to an angry voice. There is a difference between the casual voice command and the emergency voice command. I haven’t learned that yet. I should be able to whisper and watch for Bailey’s ears to perk up.
5. I need to purchase a training collar, a thinner 6’ leash, a light 30’ leash, and smaller treats.

We both came home and took a 2 hour nap.

Summer 2010

Sat, 7 Aug 2010 11:04:37 -0400

Eggs Benedict for breakfast.
More cleaning of the cottage.

Sunday August 8th
long walk to Butler Preserve down the road. Walked the loop with Bailey. Nice Walk.
Dinner with Jerry and Vicki in Acton. Wonderful food and nice company.

Monday August 9th
Renters got in late last night after we went to bed. We left the light on for them.
Walked Butler Park again with Bailey. 40 minutes 3000 steps.
Glenn still working on dock, parking area, and boat.
He cleaned up 2 bicycles for our company.
Library for email and Facebook.
Great time at dog park with Bailey. But a woman fell in the parking lot and hit her head. Ambulance came and took her to hospital to be sure she was ok. Someone else took her puppy home for her.

Summer 2010

Fri, 6 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Took Bailey to the beach dog run in the morning and to Kennebunk Dog Park in the afternoon. He is learning to interact with other dogs although he shows no interest in playing. It is like he doesn’t know how. He gets anxious around puppies and high energy dogs when he can’t walk away from them.

Jeep got inspected today! It is back on the road. Cleaned cottage today. Wiped down the walls and took off bedding. Swept and mopped all floors. Will move mattress tomorrow.

Cooked Chicken Parmigiana for dinner.

Summer 2010

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 12:51:55 -0400

Glenn and I came up Friday, July 30th, 2010. We brought Emily and Micah’s dog Bailey for a summer vacation. Sort of a Fresh Air Camp for dogs.

Everything seemed fine except for rodent evidence in the main house. Probably a chipmunk. Upstairs bedroom showed evidence of a nest made in a Martha Washington folded bedspread. Had to throw it out. Tufts of fabric were found on floor.

Still have a problem with the water pump--trying to go on and then remaining on even after pressure is reached.

Lawn looks great due to continued cuttings by Grasshopper Lawn service. Glenn spoke to locals down in the Port and checked on dock. He is working on putting up permanent posts and cable to replace chain and lock that Chris Audley put up. Glenn mounted the toilet paper holder and 2 peg towel holders in the new bathroom. Also replaced and repaired the toilet flow gadget in same bathroom. Although new last year, it wasn’t working. Hooked up washing machine and did a small load. Weather is not good enough to wash linens and hang on line--too humid and it is supposed to rain. Glenn is also looking to put plastic sleeves on fence posts due to weed whacker damage by lawn service. got Jeep running and renewed the registration and insurance. It is scheduled to be inspected this Friday. Hope it passes. Got 2 free beach passes for our cars. Didn’t get any guest passes, we will just use ours. Although designed to be permanently attached to the windshield, I put them in clear wide tape so that we can use them on whatever car we use. Bought a new, bigger vacuum cleaner at Sears. I will take it home and bring up my similar one from home. Vacuumed Dining room, Parlor, and Utility room. Now working on the upstairs. Due to humidity, upstairs smells of rodent urine. I will have to see if I can find a source.

Utility room shows signs of some sort of insect eating into the ceiling foam along the wall above the sink. It runs the length of the knee wall of the porch. It was all this powdery stuff piled on the sink, washer, shelf, and dryer. We will investigate. Meanwhile, we vacuumed it up.

It was so hot and humid that we put the air conditioner into the dining room window.

Starting to clean up the apartment. Julie Schwartz and her daughter are renting it for a week.

We met our new neighbors that bought the house next to Cliff Welch and the Horne Lot. Nice couple from NY/NJ that will be using it as a weekend-summer house - Steve and Kim Collins. He is here and installing a bathroom in the basement and she will be coming up this weekend with other family members. He had his lawn person mow the Horne Lot.

The new finished kitchen and bath are TERRIFIC!!! Thank you Eric. Looked for corner shelving unit for kitchen, but most are 36” and we only have 34+” unless we move stove, microwave, and upper cabinet over. That would lock us into a 28” refrigerator which would be ok.

TV is ok. We seem to still have basic cable on both TV’s. Apt TV uses the VCR to remotely change channels and to get 60+ channels. Parlor TV uses old cable box to change channels and get 60+ channels. Tried to hook up the VCR in Parlor to get the channels, but can’t seem to make it work.

Summer 2009 Recap

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 14:32:00 -0400

A lot got done the Summer of 2009!!
New Roofs on all buildings as well as a new slanted roof on the utility room to replace the flat-always leaked roof.
Refurbished cupola on garage and made it wasp nest proof.
New Kitchen:
-refurbished a used stove
-new microwave
-refrigerator paint touched up
-sink salvaged from side of road and refurbished
-new cabinets and flooring
New Bathroom:
-replaced rotted floor
-new shower stall
-new toilet, sink, & cabinet
Utility room:
-dryer salvaged from roadside and refurbished
-dryer salvaged from roadside and refurbished
-shelving area to replace closet
Dock pilings replaced
Garage doors scraped and painted
Porch door & utility room door scraped and painted.
Jeep welded and tried to make road ready. Failed
Dock in and out and boat in and out of water
Drainpipes from gutter on apt. cleaned and joint replaced

to be cont’d

Beginning of week #2

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:46:11 -0400

Thursday 7/16
-Waited for Cable/internet (Time Warner) to come. He came early -9 am, so the day wasn’t shot. Went grocery shopping
-installed kitchen faucet
-Glenn ripped up some bathroom floor tiles.
-cleaned off shop bench in garage
-Frozen Lasagna for dinner.
-Glenn took Jeep to Maling’s Welding to get estimate on repair.

Friday 7/17
-I went to 11 am Apple One to One Computer lesson at the Maine Mall in S. Portland. Then I went to Freeport to LL Bean. Discussed KK PFD’s and learned about archery.
Corporate person that I need to talk to is on vacation until the 27th.
-bought bathroom cabinet on way home at Lowes.
-Glenn went back to chiropractor
-Glenn installed cable to apt.
-installed the float at the pier.
-Spaghetti and meatballs at home for dinner.

Saturday July 18th
-Slow day.
-Glenn is compounding the boat after power washing a few outside walls.
-I installed the Airport Extreme wireless. Tried to make the printer wireless, but just got frustrated. I just don’t understand all this network stuff.
-vacuumed the parlor and straightened it up, and am currently using the air purifier in there.
-organizing the files and trying to throw out paper. I am also thinking of getting a book person in here to help me figure out what to do with all the books.
-will probably have pork tenderloin for dinner on grill.

I think I lost my camera and car GPS (stolen?) so photos are not current