 |
The day I went in for my spleenectomy (March 1) we
endured another overnight blizzard. When I got home a few days later
(March 5), the next morning I hobbled around and took
these photos.
(Mar. 6, 2009) |
 |
On April 6 it's time to
move Chip Ahoy
out front and uncover
it -- and thus officially begins the
spring of 2009! |
 |
Spring has arrived, life is returning
to Marblehead, the trees and bushes are beginning to bloom again.
(April 27, 2009) |
 |
We've uncovered Barbara's sunning chair
from winter storage and she's begun
to arrange things around it to her liking. |
 |
Soon those tables will be covered with flower pots. |
 |
Chip Ahoy (and Chip Mate the dinghy, bottom right)
in front of my house, ready to the annual commissioning ritual.
(April 27, 2009) |
 |
Yesterday Bob Donovan and his
construction company crew moved in like gangbusters with their heavy equipment and a truckload of
crushed stone. By the end of the day they'd leveled and cleaned up the lot. (May 8, 2009) |
 |
They spread the crushed stone from the street right
down to
where Chip Ahoy is parked on its trailer, from alongside Barbara's side
yard across to the brush property line behind where they park. Once I trailer the boat
out of the way for launching, Bob said they'll be back to level and
cover where it's parked out front of my house. |
 |
A big improvement -- no more muddy ruts from his heavy
equipment and the winter snowplowing. But it's a
different look entirely. |
 |
Barbara doesn't like it; she prefers the old look -- a
natural dirt lot where we allow trucks and equipment to be parked. I'm
ambivalent, perhaps more practical. I think it looks neater and is
certainly more practical since we do allow the trucks and equipment to
use the empty space. I sure don't miss the mud, tire ruts, and puddles.
Gilly Cat hasn't made up his mind yet, but he's giving it lots of
thought! |
 |
A view from the street to Chip Ahoy and my house behind
it. Donovan's crew rearranged the boulders along the street to
form a rudimentary stone wall. They skipped the short hot topped surface
coming into the lot from the street but filled right up to and around
it. Notice that it didn't take long for those tree buds in the above
photos from April 27 to bloom into fresh young leaves. (May 8, 2009) |
 |
I bought this unfinished yard furniture
new, before I got my
sailboat, Chip Ahoy. Finishing it my way provided
a
release for my pent-up refinishing urges back then, pre-boatowner
again. I maintained it
with additional coats of Cetol for about, well, another year. Each
fall since, and each spring upon
uncovering it from winter, I've vowed
to apply the much-needed upkeep coats of Cetol -- but boat projects got
in the way. It has never
happened until now. I could avoid it no longer -- the weathered wood
damage now was too evident. (May 11, 2009) |
 |
It had unfortunately weathered to where it needed sanding
before reapplication of Cetol. Once lightly sanded, I applied two coats
of Cetol 23 Plus #078 Natural. |
 |
I finished it off yesterday with a
finish coat of Cetol TGL Gloss (#003 - Colorless). It's now good for
another few years anyway, I hope. It actually looks better this
time than the last
time I refinished it in 2004. (May 14, 2009) |
|
Back to Page 2 | NEXT |
| |
