Memorial Day Weekend, 2008.
We needed to finish a short fence along the upper wall beside the driveway in order to comply with the occupancy terms from the county. Dennis and Kathy were joined by Matt and Greg, and we all spent our first night at the lakehouse (illegally!) We arrived very late Friday night and, putting aside any plans to enjoy each other's company to "celebrate" with games and/or movies, we just fell into the beds and slept!

Dennis and Kathy were up early Saturday...absolutely beautiful day...it was so quiet and peaceful..and headed off to purchase the necessary materials to build the fence and buy some food at the local WalMart. Had a light breakfast with M and G and began to work. Quickly learned that it would be much harder to build than anticipated, as the 11' foot rails had to be cut to fit the 8' distance between the line posts, with the ends cut in 3 dimensions to fit together properly. Eventually, Dennis headed back out to buy a tablesaw, and M and G went downstairs to assemble and mount the bigscreen TV in the Media Room.

Dennis returned with the materials, we had a quicklunch, applauded the working TV (DVDs only at this point) and then "people" began to arrive. First, some friends (California/Gaithersburg/Deep Creek) came by to tour the house; they later returned on their gorgeous speedboat to tempt us to go out on the water for awhile (we regretfully declined). Then the landscaper arrived to walk the property and discuss plans for terracing, shrubbery, grading, etc. Then the builder arrived to do a final walkthrough with us on the house.

As the sun began to set it became clear that we would not finish on Saturday as originally planned. M and G agreed to stay another night. Kathy headed out to pick up take-out dinner (18 miles away!) and after dinner we played Hearts in the Dining Room...so dark, so quiet outside!

Sunday morning the men resumed work on the fence, while Kathy packed away boxes that were stacking up in the garage (Christmas stuff and decor items), tested the sealant on the foyer slate and stained the handrails on the staircases. The fence was finished shortly after noon, we cleaned up ourselves and the house, broke down boxes, took additional measurement, etc., before leaving slightly before 2 p.m. Arrived back in Derwood at just before 5 pm, M and G took off (previous plans for Sat nite), we made it to Mass, then headed up to Fred and Nancylee's to join the rest of the family for relaxing dinner.

How wonderful it was up there! How hard it was to leave!



Matt, Greg and Dennis relax against their handwork.

The lineposts will hold up anything!

A more encompassing view of the new fence.

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The view from the "end" of the fence, uphill from the driveway

Posing by their first outdoor group project at the house!

The fence is strong and sturdy, just like its builders!

OK...this is an update to the pics that I just finished blogging, i.e, a second set of the same blogged pictures. I did not realize (until Dennis showed me how) that I could "fill in light" to make the pictures brighter. Thus these pictures are MUCH BETTER to look at! So look at these and you can skip the second (darker) set. But read the explination of our day that accompanies them (I didn't want to retype that!)



Rear view of the house on the right side from the back yard.

Rear of house from back yard.

Another view of the back of the house.

Rear view of the house from about half-way down to the lake.

Rear of house on the left side, looking from backyard.

Center rear of house from the backyard.

Side rear of house, Dining Room and steps to the backyard.

Dining Room with side lights on inside.

New air conditioning units on side of house.

View of front of house from near garage.

Lakehouse on May 17, 2008

We visited the house on Saturday, May 17th, with the intention of putting up our own fence along the side of the driveway near the front door. Dennis drove in from a conference in Hershey, PA, while I loaded the van with the remains (still in good shape) of the fence we had taken down from our Derwood home. We met in Hagerstown and got to the lake about 3:30 pm.

House looked good, not too much new except that the air conditioning units had been installed outside and the "temporary" (possibly) handrails for the staircases had been installed inside. Nothing new with the damp corner downstairs or with the water issue in the Guest Master bath.

After unloading the van and doing a bit of prep work on the fence location, we attempted to find the Lowes and price the rails and posts for a split-rail fence, which would probably work better than the one we had. We circled the lake, only to discover that all the garden centers and lumber yards closed at 4 pm on Saturdays.

A storm seemed to be brewing and there was nothing much else that we could do, so we repacked the van, pile the fence materials out behind the garage and left for home. We took the following pictures of the back of the house late in the afternoon with the storm coming in, so they are very dark and not very clear. Wanted to show the house completely stained, but will have to wait for another brighter day to take better pics!






View of the back of the house from middle of "back yard."

Another view of back of the house.

Back of house.

View of back of house from half-way down to the lake.

Closeup of far side of the back of the house.

Center back of house.

Side back view of house.

Garage side of house.

Close up of the Dining Room with lights on inside.

Air conditioning units now in place at side of house.

View of front of house from near the garage.

Dining Room table with new centerpiece.

Carolyn's gift of the rustic wooden bowl, with candles and pinecones added.

Another view of the new centerpiece...looks great!

Carolyn's gift of tall wooden candlestands looks great in the Master Bathroom.

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Closeup of the candle stands.

A basket of pinecones on the Great Room bar.

Andrew discovers Black Bear has been waiting for him!

Andrew greets his old friend, Black Bear.

They have missed each other!

A lot!