A view from the cove

Slow water

2010-06-07T04:41:00.000-04:00

They'll resume work in the morning, first to recheck the rate of water flow. At day's end on Friday, at a depth of 440 feet, we were getting about 2.5 gallons/minute, half of what's recommended. We might be able to get by, but the pump would have to work harder, shortening its life.
One option is to keep drilling. Our neighbor across the cove reached a good flow at 520 or so. (Another lakeside resident was getting 15 gallons/minute at 150 feet. It's tempting to run a pipe along the lake bottom to his well.)
The other option is hydro-fracture, also known as hydro-frac or fracking. In brief, the crew would pump pressurized water back down the hole. The pressurized water fractures the rock around the veins that are feeding the well, increasing the rate of water flow.
This seems like a lot of work (and money) to get water when we're right beside a lake. The lake water, as good as it is, however, is susceptible to a number of biological processes resulting from human, animal, and plant activities, particularly during the warmer periods of summer. This project is worth it, allowing us to have a reliable supply of good drinking water.
I just hope we don't find oil.

Future of News, Phillipston-style

2010-05-30T02:25:00.000-04:00

While the print and broadcast news media wrestle flail in paroxysms of poverty as Google and Twitter steal their lunch money, the good folk of Phillipston bring the important information directly to the people.

(Editor's note: at this writing, I've not been able to confirm our news source, but I suspect that it's Claire.)

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Posted By RoasterBoy to Hakkarainen Clipping Service at 5/29/2010 03:45:00 AM

"More than one more thing"

2009-11-24T02:29:00.000-05:00

From the Phillipston OntheCommon.com blog: "More than one more thing"

OntheCommon.com - A place for everything

2009-09-05T01:01:00.000-04:00

I thought that I did pretty well, dropping that dead gray birch about 18" from the boathouse....

Summer morning on the lake

2009-08-18T03:47:00.000-04:00

From OnTheCommon.com

...
The water skiers and other powered folks were out. We had our time. They have theirs. Our parents tried to teach to share. The lesson about sharing is not just giving up part of the whole, but knowing that you'll get your fair portion as well.

OntheCommon.com - not even for ducks

2009-08-03T05:38:00.000-04:00

OntheCommon.com: "Around six in the morning, you can hear the planes as start to follow Route 2 on their approach to Logan Airport. On Sunday morning, we couldn't see them, though. We couldn't even see Queen Lake's other shore, the fog was so thick."

We got a gadget

2009-07-25T06:59:00.000-04:00

That sound that you hear is Huck scratching his head, wondering what his camp has come to.

The gadget is a MiFi™2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, a personal wifi hotspot that connects to VerizonWireless's network, giving you, at best, speeds comparable to DSL.
So, no wires (phone line or cable), and Internet at decent speeds out here at the end of a dirt road, a road deep with puddles from last night's rain and yesterday's rain and rain that we haven't seen since the time of Noah.
But, we got the Intertubes.

The nuts don't fall far from the tree

2009-07-22T06:16:00.000-04:00

You'd think that TV at the camp wasn't that important, that with deep woods behind us and a beautiful lake in front, we wouldn't need or want TV. That's what you think....

From OntheCommon.com - "The nuts don't fall far from the tree":

Queen Lake Association 2009 Annual Meeting

2009-07-15T14:58:00.001-04:00

It's the Saturday after Independence Day and so it's the day for the annual meeting of the Queen Lake Association....

From OnTheCommon.com

Summertime sauna

2009-07-11T05:48:00.000-04:00

So, we're back home after a trip to Finland. (I've been writing about our trip in my other blog. You can find links to the reports here.)
We went to sauna at various hotels and enjoyed the experience. The saunas had electric stoves and you cooled off with showers rather than a jump in the lake. Nevertheless, it was good.
Not as good, however, as being back at Queen Lake with a wood-fired sauna and a fresh lake.
The heavy rains and cool temperatures have kept the lake refreshing.
Here we could wait until sunset before going to sauna. In Finland, particularly in the north, that really isn't an option. During Midsummer in Finland, there isn't darkness.
And, after sauna, we get to sit on bench, watch and listen to the planes on their way back to Boston ("Someone's going home.), watch those cute brown birds swoop across the water, feasting on the plentiful mosquitoes,and be still, sometimes talking, sometimes. not.

Queen Lake Sunset

2009-05-18T04:35:00.001-04:00

EEB sent us this photo:

The noises of coming to life

2009-05-12T07:56:00.000-04:00

Across the lake, you can hear the small chainsaws with dull chains laboring mightily amid the continued cleanup from the ice storm. We've not yet toured the lake, but a neighbor reported that the west side was much harder hit. From another camp comes the sound of a circular saw, cutting lumber as a part of the season's repairs and improvements.
We're making good progress. Last week, Mike and Joe cut up and cleared the fallen trees that were blocking our driveway. We then spent a couple of hours clearing away the brush, leaves, and other winter debris.
This weekend, we turned on the water and cleaned up some more, inside and out. Sandra got a new power blower for Mother's Day, giving us one more tool tool to move stuff from this side of the yard to that.
It usually takes us until Memorial Day weekend to get the place ready, so we're right on schedule.

By the way, I'm writing a more-or-less weekly blog at the Telegram and Gazette's OnTheCommon.com site. The blog entries cover both Holden and Phillipston. My most recent post about Queen Lake is here.

There's work to be done

2009-04-11T19:36:00.000-04:00

The camp survived the ice storm in good shape, but there are quite few trees down and some more that are nearly so. It'll be a busy spring.
Once the road dries out a bit, we'll need to bring in some professionals to do much of the cutting.

From Worcester T&G: Break-ins reported at Queen Lake

2009-04-11T07:31:00.000-04:00

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reports in their April 11, 2009 edition that police are investigating a series of break-ins at Queen Lake:

Thieves hit camps near Queen Lake
PHILLIPSTON — Police are investigating thefts that occurred last week at seasonal camps near Queen Lake in the area of Scout Rock and Lighthouse roads.

Thieves forced open locks on outbuildings and tried to break into one of the camps. An all-terrain vehicle was recently taken from a camp on the Spa Road end of Burma Road. Meanwhile, police are investigating the theft of two chain saws that occurred sometime in the past two weeks at a Brooks Village house. Thieves got in through a workshop at the back of the house.

Police are asking anyone with information regarding any of the thefts to contact the Phillipston Police Department at (978) 249-3560 or police@Phillipston-ma.gov.

Winter storms

2009-01-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

In all, we fared pretty well. There were a few trees and a lot of branches down around the camp, but no damage.

Through it all, we have to give Verizon a lot of credit. Even though electric service is still out on our side of the lake, the phone still works.

We did see a new Cove Monster fall down and try to rise up from the frozen waters:

Even after some really harsh and cold weather, the ice is only about 3-4" thick and many places are slushy beneath the recent snowfall.
So, the winter of 2008-9 has given us several good kicks. The National Weather Service is suggesting, in their long-range outlook, that we'll be colder than normal with above average precipitation. In a word, yikes.

Dirty hands, clean heart

2008-09-20T10:39:00.001-04:00

So, I finally found the replacement adapter for the sauna stove pipe. It took just a few mnutes to connect the new piece to the old pipe. I lit a small fire to check for leaks and found none.
Any project with stove pipe is dirty work. The rust and soot get on everything. As I was washing up I remembered that I'd not seen an ad for Lava soap in a long time. I guess people dont get their hands dirty like they used to.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Watching the steam rise from the water

2008-09-20T08:02:00.000-04:00

The temperature is 38. I'm sure that we would have had a frost last night if it wasn't for the relatvely warm lake nearby. Our wood stove, made from an an old barrel, heats the room quickly. The sun will be up over the trees soon, bringing even more warmth. Nevertheless, we're at the end of summer and that means we're getting chilly.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Justifying another barrel of scraps

2008-08-31T13:19:00.000-04:00

The last couple of times we had sauna, we noticed that we could see the fire through holes in the stove pipe. The metal had rusted away and fell apart to the touch.
I went to a half dozen stores looking for the right replacement sections and couldn't find the one that I needed.
Fortunmately, in the corner of the boathouse there is an old barrel filled with odd pieces of stovepipe I picked some of the oddest and was able to get a working configuration. We'll give a try this evening.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Red leaves and blue berries

2008-08-31T13:10:00.000-04:00

Even as we take the turn into September, this year's bountiful crop of berries just won't quit. In a quick few minutes, we picked a quart, enough for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. The neighbors report more than 40 quarts for the season, not a record, but a mighty haul all the same.
The wind is strong from the northwest and the angle of the sun has dropped behind the trees in the afternoon. The sunlight is still warm, but the air and light and colors tell us that we're late in the season. It's been a good one, one of the best.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Deer flies pose nuisance to berry- and mushroom pickers

2008-08-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

The Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition reports what New England berry-pickers have also discovered: deer flies are tenacious little critters that bite hard and can make you take the Lord's name in vain.

Nearing the end of the blueberry season

2008-08-17T12:52:00.001-04:00

If we were to get only the blueberries that I picked this morning (a pint in a half hour), in most years, we'd have called it a good crop. As it is, we're nearing the end of a bountiful season. Today, we're picking single blueberries, not the clusters that look like bunches of grapes. Sometimes, you can't even see the berries at first. You have to let your eyes relax, as though you're looking at a Where's Waldo? scene. Then, they appear, sweet and dark and fresh.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A quiet day amid the thunder

2008-08-16T19:04:00.001-04:00

The thunderstorms went to the north and south of us with only brief bursts of rain. It was just enough to keep us indoors, talking, reading newspapers.
Lily spent a couple of nights with us. On Thursday, we saw a fun show, High School Musical, at the Mount Wachusett theater. Yesterday, we brought carrots to the neighbors' pony and goats, swam with and without Marley, and dined on sweet corn and pie. We brought Lily to Northampton this morning, where we met her mom for breakfast.
There's a lot of bouhaha about this weekend's sales tax holiday. We came home, feeling a bit unpatriotic, having bought just a small can of paint and a couple of odds and ends. It's good to be in a place in our lives where we don't need much more stuff. If anything, we need less. I think that the government should give us a tax refund for the stuff we get rid of.
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Huck's hat

2008-08-07T07:01:00.000-04:00

I'd left my baseball cap in the boat house and wanted to wear a hat when I went out to do a bit of fishing. So, I grabbed one of Huck's old white caps.
Sandra saw the hat first as I came around the corner of the camp. At the same time, I saw my reflection in one of the windows. Both of us jumped a bit, startled. We hadn't seen the hat in motion for a long time.
I wore the hat until it was time to come in. (It was a fine afternoon of fishing that was unencumbered by actually catching any fish.) I'm not much of a hat guy and have only worn one since I had a bit of melanoma removed a couple of years ago. I put Huck's hat back where it belongs.

The rains that used to be

2008-08-07T06:44:00.000-04:00

We have a loft over the porch. It's just large enough for a mattress and you can only sit up in the middle. We sleep there now and it's where I slept when I was a kid. Back then, the roof was thinner - shingles atop tar paper and boards. The sound of rain on the roof was as soothing a sound as you can find. Even the hard rain of a thunderstorm, slowed by the leaves and evergreen needles above, was muted and humble. It was great for sleeping, be it late at night or on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
When Huck retired, he redid the interior ceiling, putting up a layer of foam insulation between the rafters and covering it with particle board. The idea was to make it a year-round place. It is much warmer, but also quiet in a way that it never was. We still sleep great at the camp and we aren't about to remove insulation to reclaim a bit of nostalgia. We'll be comfy, even if I'm off listening someplace else in time.

Smoke to the winds and gone

2008-08-07T03:22:00.000-04:00

Usually in early August, a big high pressure system settles over us, giving us warm, humid air - the dog days of summer. During those times, smoke from the sauna stove will float straight up and not dissipate until it's gone beyond the tops of the trees. Occasionally, there'll be a light southerly breeze to push the smoke out toward the lake where it settles like a fog.
Not this year. Instead, a large, cold, upper-level low has parked itself over the Northeast, spinning a series of cold fronts at us. Many days, we get strong northwest winds, churning up whitecaps on the blue-gray water. This past weekend, the sauna smoke was stretched out flat like a streamer on a car's antenna.
And then, a couple of days later, the wind backed around to the east-northeast, a cool, raw fetch from the Maritimes. We needed a fire in the stove in the camp. That smoke tumbled down the hill and was gone before it reached the bottom of the steps.
The smoke is visible only as the fires are getting started. The wood doesn't burn completely and a lot of particulate matter heads out the stack. We run the sauna full-tilt, so, within minutes, the fire is very hot and the exhaust becomes clear. Even in the camp's stove, where we're apt to light just a small smudge in the morning, the fire is soon hot enough to clean itself.