From MSFB vol 11 #2, 7/5/1993

Sun of Work Weekend

by Carol Barrette
Bulletin Contributor
Anticipation for Work Weekend II had been building up all week, mainly through the constantly updated weather reports that Ian was sending everyone with e-mail accounts. Needless to say, the weather picture looked bleak with much rain in the offing along with a few thunderstorms. As the week wore on, the reports worsened and I, for one, brought up plenty of rain gear, extra tennis shoes and several pairs of dry socks.
At Pearl Street there was no truck available. However, the amount of gear to bring up was the same as in previous years. Ian's Hyundai had to suffice. Consequently the space left for the sole passenger, even after a phenomenal packing job by Ian, was ridiculously small! (At least I wasn't strapped on the roof!)
We left around midnight on Friday and arrived at 3 a.m. at the campsite. The sky was clear and the stars were abundant. Once our eyes acclimated, we could see that the field was covered with a thick carpet of clover which had a shimmering glow in the moonlight. The lightning bugs lit up the woods like little Christmas tree lights.
Saturday we woke up early and even though the weather looked absolutely beautiful, we set up the requisite rain tarps etc. (These turned out to be sun tarps). We waited for the other people to come in and eventually Mike, Carla & Elisabeth, and Teresa, Amy & Annette arrived and the Work Weekend was underway after a light lunch.
Teresa, Amy, Ian and Annette mowed the lawn which was a gargantuan task, what with wet clover, and the mower constantly clogging up. Teresa cleared the paths to all important places as well as the barn foundation area. Ian left for an hour (or so he claims!) to get gas etc.... I fixed the disintegrating benches and picnic tables and showed that you can hold anything together with enough metal (exemplifying the orthopædic maxim 'the more metal, the better the construct!' and then helped Carla clean out the cabin. Elisabeth happily watched from her playpen outside the cabin and took notes on cleaning techniques. No additional forms of wildlife were identified inhabiting the cabin this trip. [chipmunks were sighted earlier this year - Ian]. When Ian returned from his visit to town, he proceeded to remove the sliding glass doors and their frames from the cabin and reverse them a few times. Finally he replaced them in their original position. [Not true! I reversed them an odd number of times -- Ian] They seemed to fit somewhat better. Teresa decided (wisely) not to question him about this activity.
A small storm rolled in during this time. We could hear the thunder in the distance, but only received a light shower. Fortunately Amy and Annette had put sealant around the seams of the big tent. They also inflated all the inflatables to check for any spontaneous deflatability and fixed any lesions found. Mike and I then coiled 22 feet of allegedly flexible copper tubing to fit over a hibachi grill. Ian set up a siphon through a garden hose from the pond through the copper tubing over a hot charcoal grill, back into a garden hose which wound up a tree through a shower nozzle. This made a surprisingly hot shower, although only Ian and I had a shower as the others were semi-nonbelievers (i.e. they were more interested in dinner than in dousing themselves with hot water before sunset).
Dinner was chicken wings cooked up by Annette, baked potatoes (some of which were only half-baked according to Mike) courtesy of moi, and a Guenette/Lyons mini-salad (i.e. it was almost completely eaten!). Later Teresa, Carla, Annette and Amy munched down s'mores, although Teresa managed to get more in her hair and fingers than down the ol' hatch. Teresa, Amy and Annette stayed together in Ian's big tent, where the giggling, laughing and sleepy talking of a girls sleep-over could be heard until the wee hours, much to Amy's chagrin.
Sunday was amazing because not only was Ian the third person up, but there was not a cloud in sight and the sky was a brilliant blue. Ian made French toast, then work began. Ian and Mike rolled some large logs into place in the erosion gullies by the edge of the field. I braced the logs with rocks that Amy and Annette gathered, and terraced the area. Carla, Annette and Amy planted ground plants we had brought up and these were supplemented with local plants that we dug up from the marsh. Eventually the erosion area looked less decimated and more aesthetically pleasing. Teresa weed-whacked the Meadow, pruned branches around the campsite, and re-mowed the Field. Mike re-coiled the copper tubing and Ian fixed the mower and supervised activities helping out where necessary.
The sun was hot and several breaks were taken to cool off in the pond (the two frogs who live under the deck were croaking invitations to join them all weekend and the crayfish population seemed to be way down). A solar tub kept water warm for Elisabeth and anyone who wanted to join her. Most people left in the early afternoon. Ian and I stayed and watched the sun set over the trees. We sat on the lawn as the shade gradually crept across the field and then up the tall white birches. Ready to go at last, we were then treated to a gorgeous orange-pink sunset over the mountains on our way down to the main road. The windows were open to better smell the wonderful scent of fields at dusk.
Truly a memorable leave-taking of a wonderful weekend.
Thanks to Carol Barrette, Amy Davidson, Annette, Mike & Carla Guenette and Teresa Lyons for slaving away in the hot sun! -- Ian