The Cabin - Part 4

Activities Around the Cabin

Swimming AND diving happened all summer long for many years until the diving board cracked and had to be removed. The dock ladder often became slippery and was scrubbed regularly. The dock finally gave way to a new one, that was built by my daughter and grandson in 2004. The float, a wooden structure mounted on metal barrels, was anchored to the bottom of the lake with an iron chain attached to a huge metal wagon wheel. The float was taken in to the beach bank before winter and then re-launched in the spring. Our family men took care of this maneuver yearly until several years ago when it was too much to handle by the one who did most of the duty alone.

Fishing still is a main activity, done by almost every family member - big or small. An old flat-bottom row boat with an electric motor was in service until a new "V" hull one took its place. Just throwing a line from the bank or dock results in a nice catch often. Fishes caught are: pickerel, largemouth bass, bullhead catfish, perch, crappie, bluegill sunfish and longear sunfish. A long time ago walleye, northern pike and trout were stocked and caught, but were fished out.

Boating is our recreation in water through the use of rowboats, canoes, kayaks, sailboats, paddle boats, pontoon boats - all human-powered or electric-powered watercraft. Then there are the non-boat floation items used for drifting, paddling and moving about: tire tubes, rafts, noodles, and inflatable or foam lounge chairs. What fun!

Picnics, steak bakes, pig roasts, birthday and graduation parties and holiday celebrations such as 4h of July and Memorial Day, were mustered and enjoyed by family, friends and guests. Once there was even an outdoor poultry processing demonstration, put on by my mother to educate an assemblage of youngsters and adults. What an experience that one was! Exclamations of "yuk!" "phew!" and "wow!" rang loudly several times. A barbeque chicken dinner followed, of course.

There are the quiet activities and pastimes: Walking, running, dog walking, bicycling, stroller pushing, ice skating, tenting, reading, and porch sitting. Go carts, quads, snowmobiles, a powered ice boat, the "ice-screamer" horses and ponies, motorcycles, tractors, mowers, saws, weed wackers, snow blowers, generators, and commercial vehicles are the noisemakers. I almost forgot to mention the target shooting before hunting season and horseshoes clanking against the old iron posts!

Cabin Tranquillity is not tranquil all of the time!

Mom & Pop had no idea what they started!

The Old Diving Board
The Old Dock
The Old Float on Tilt

The Old Float Repaired

The New Dock

Grandson & Son
Daughter
Husband
Grandson
Flat Bottom Boat
New "V" Hull Boat
Floating & Lounging
Daughter's Inflatable Friend
(Me) Grilling Hamburgers in Tire Rim

Granddaughter's Birthday Party
Blue Ribbon Hand Made "Pig-Rig"
Skewered Pig Cooked
Removing Skewer
Removing Chicken Wire Wrap
Picking and Tasting
Poultry Plucking
Poultry Processing
Son on Motorbike
"Dune buggy Gang"
Brother on Motorcycle
Trail Riding
The "Ice Screamer"
Granddaughter on Quad
My Kids and Husband Snowmobiling
Mom Mowing
Husband Blowing Snow
SC Friends Camping
Brother & Pop First Sign
Husband Replaces Sign

The Cabin - Part 3

A Few Questions and Answers

(1) How many uses did the clothesline have besides for hanging wet bathing suits, beach towels, wet rags and laundry? (Once there were two lines, until the rear tree had to be cut down.)

A. Some are: It once displayed a spray can painted sheet I made as an anniversary banner for a gathering in 1994. It also stored bead and plastic canvas home made "twirlies" I made to be given away to each couple attending the anniversary celebration.

It has shown off a pair of crocheted blankets I designed and made in 1977, using 32 different colored skeins, for my two youngest children after first receiving a blue ribbon award at the regional fair. It is still, and always has been a landing spot for assorted types of birds to rest between flights. Old line is always reused for tying down "things."

(2) How many logs have been split over 37 years as firewood for the original fireplace, and then later for the firebox barrel insert? (ash, oak, beech, birch, hickory, maple, apple, cherry)

1962

A. Tons of logs were made into an exceeding number of cords, all then stacked neatly, of course.

(3) How many bare babies' butts were placed in the old porcelain sink or on its built in porcelain corrugated drain board for bathing the little ones?

A. Six that I have personally placed there. Several others who I can think of were also subjected.

(4) What other uses does the bathroom ceiling (covered with random tongue and groove knotty pine planks) provide?

A. It provides a loft floor. Sleeping up by the rafters was a place for friends when there were too many visiting overnight for the overflow of beds such as the sofas, porch swing, and floor cots. Once it held four fold up cots for my kids when they were young; they loved to all go up there, but only the older four were permitted to sleep there. It has always been a source of storage space.

1968

1969

(5) Why do I live here?

A. Just because. (Re-read all of the above.)

Indoor Activities

I bought some hair curlers and rolled my hair after showering this AM. I haven't had hair long enough to curl up is soooo many years. It's a pain, but I felt like I needed some sort of change. I bought the kind of curler that has a brush inside and a pick to hold it in place. They HURT! They're WORSE to take out! Guess I always have to experiment with stuff.

Yesterday, my first husband sent me a DVD of some old 8mm movies that he'd been storing in his garage for over 45 years. Somehow, he has put them together in a 1 hour long "movie" on the DVD and thought I'd like to have a copy. It was bittersweet. It shows he and me and our parents and siblings before we were married. It continues on with segments of our wedding, honeymoon trip to FL, a New Year's party in the old log cabin where we first lived, our first child until the age of 1 and then our 2nd child (son who died at age 37) and ends with a shot of our third son as an infant. There is a segment of my (now 71) brother in 1956 performing amateur stunts on his motorcycle.

More to this tale now:

I spent yesterday making my own movie on the computer(s) of just my brother riding. It was an experiment and extreme test of persistence. (I have never used the DVD player on my new computer.) Well, the DVD wouldn't play and froze it. I had to pull the power plug to get outta there!

Sooooo I tried it on the old Y2K computer. That old baby only has a total 80MB hard drive, but---it played! I couldn't get rid of the "controller" because every time I told the computer to "hide controller" the DVD would stop and I had to start all over again! I got the bright idea then to copy the section I wanted of it right off of that computer with my regular digital camera set on movie mode. Then I imported it from my camera into my newer computer and made a short iMovie. I then uploaded it to YouTube and shared it with my brother and his only child, a son with a wild and creative streak, too. They both let me know today that they got a kick out of watching it. I'll attach my link to YouTube for you to see what I did.

Today, my nephew wrote asking me, "Is there ANY way to get a copy of the original file? I want to use it in a video I've been planning for a year now.... Affectionately titled "The Boys" :) " Well I answered him with the information of how to contact my first husband and, get this, they practically live down the street from each other!! YES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi2ouBnQ6Qk

By the way.....The TV was running in the other room when I was shooting the movie of the DVD which was running on an 11 year old computer. I wouldn't tell my husband to turn it down. He's very hard of hearing. Go with the flow rules in this case! I could have made my movie without sound, but didn't.... so people will just have to turn down their volume if they don't like the background sounds!

Plastic Angel

A recent note from one of my "other sisters" impressed me very much and I quote her message here. She also took the photo of her angel.

"This angel was in my husband's family’s, so she’s about 60 years old. When his mom first gave her to us, 40 years ago, I thought, “She’s plastic,” not the heirloom quality I thought the handpainted one my family had was. Our kids even said, when small, that she looked like a blonde Wonder Woman, but I have come to love her and the Christmas traditions that she represents, and want to share her with all of you! May such treasures and blessings also be yours this season of family, friends love and joy – and the traditions that bring it all – and us – together !"

The Tree - Part 4

After learning of the tree's demise there was a reaction and very special story sent to me from my nephew. He has given me permission to share this.

.....................................

"Wow. I'm really actually upset now that that tree is gone.

As a plant geek, I understand why, but sometimes you have funny little

sentimental attatchments to things such as trees. I remember (vaguely) the

whole family lining up for that famous photograph. I remember once, going

up on the roof of the cabin with Dad to spray the tree for Cooley's Spruce

Gall Aphid. The tree was short enough back then, that Dad was able to spray

the top half of it from the roof.

I remember one time, I brought my go-cart from NJ up to Dad's. There was a

governor on the motor that kept the go-cart from going too fast. At such a

young age, I drove that dang cart right up to its capabilities, and that

governor was holding me back so Dad and I rigged a string that would bypass

the governor. I remember spending a whole day, racing from the cabin

driveway, across the spillway, up to the corner and around the grass

triangle and back with a friend. We were timing the runs to see who was

faster. Well..... I was on my way to making the fastest run of the day.

There I came, screaming across the spillway, sideways around the corner in

front of my uncle's, whose place was next to the cabin, like a mini stock car racer, and I straightened out heading for the "finish line" in front of the cabin.

Right as I had straightened out and headed for the final straight dash to

the finish line.... to my shock, the front left wheel broke the axle, and on

three wheels I drove past the rolling tire across the finish line. I

watched the wheel roll into that Spruce tree. My friend and I spent about a

half hour searching for that wheel. We both saw it roll into that Spruce

tree. We looked, and it was not under the tree. We figured it rolled under

the tree and out the other side, so we searched the flower beds across the

front of the cabin and around the porch area. We searched even harder down

the side of the cabin that faces my uncle's. Still we couldn't find it.

We went back and searched the tree again, and there was NO tire!!! Even

though we both saw it roll in there!

We finally gave up, puzzled, and went and got Dad, and explained what

happened to him. He searched as well. He searched the same places that we

did. He went back to the tree and after a little more looking, he suddenly

burst out laughing. Apparently, there was a branch that came off the trunk

about six feet off the ground, and arched gracefully down to the ground.

The tire hit that branch at about 40 mph, and rolled UP the branch, and

wedged itself between that branch and the one above it, up against the

trunk. We never saw it because we never thought to look UP!

I thought you'd get a kick out of the story. :)

It's one of my favorite stories ever...."

Note: My nephew is now age 36. He's the little dark haired boy sitting in the front row of the family photo shown in the blog, The Tree - Part 1.

He also commented that Spruce spider mites are almost impossible to get rid of.... To treat that tree would have been extremely expensive if it even would have worked in the first place.

The Tree - Part 1

It was presented as a gift to the owners of Cabin Tranquillity (yes one "L") and planted by family members back in the early seventies. The cabin was built in 1961 as a quiet summer retreat in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. The lakefront property was originally purchased by the owners from the wife's cousin, who constructed the 47 acre spring-fed lake. This was a dream which came true. The Blue Spruce tree flourished.

Over the following years, all four of the children and many grandchildren came to the cabin for swimming, horseshoes, campfires, camping, ice skating,

hunting and many other activities, thoroughly enjoying the experience of family and adventure and recreational opportunities.

Time went by and the tree grew and GREW! It survived hot and dry summers and hundreds of snow events. The family changed, too. The original owners left,

taking their memories with them.

The only son, the twin daughters and the eldest daughter all now resided in the area near the cabin. The tree remained.

Year 2005

The eldest daughter and her husband now reside in Cabin Tranquillity. The tree has by now had several haircuts, lower limbs removed for easier lawn mowing and ventilation.

One day in year 2010 it was noticed that the needles were thinning in extremes. A regional forester was called in to diagnose the problem.

It was heavily infested with tree mites! Its roots were impacted under the concrete foundation. It was dying! The invasion of the mites had started many years ago and went unnoticed.

Too late.