Dad

Well, Dad Wagner finally made it out to Maine to see what kind of shack we live in and was politely surprised to find out that we live the good life (with 9'6" ceilings).

We ate and drank, talked, played cribbage, went for drives, looked at land, went to church, read books and what not. I think he had a nice time.

For me, it was probably the best time I've ever spent with my dad. Honest.

I think a special thing happens if and when you can finally see your father as a regular person just trying to play the hand that life has dealt him (same as all of us). Another special thing happens when your father looks at the life you've built and says he's proud of you.

Thanks Dad.

In other news, the aforementioned Dad put in an offer on 27 acres of nicely wooded land here in Alna. He may be visiting more often!

Running Round

Here on the country estate, we often have to take a whole day to run around. Thats today.

It looks like a beautiful fall day out there, but the day will be full of going to and fro.

The truck is full of construction debris from a remodel job that I spent all day hanging sheetrock on yesterday. It'll be mudded and taped by Wednesday, then we'll install the Tongue and Groove V-match ceiling in the bed room and the hardwood floors. Then trim and then Finished! On to the next one.

We keep losing chickens to coyotes or foxes or maybe hawks. We let them free-range the yard, because who can keep them penned up? But that is how the local predators get them. We don't have a yard dog and the cats won't tangle with a coyote or a fox. But one by one they're getting picked off. We'll have to get another batch of hatchlings. Speaking of chickens, getting chicken feed and bedding is on the list for today.

We're still a long way from being ready for snow to fly (Although, it snowed the other night, the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen.) The snow plow is still buried in the shed, and I've still got piles of lumber and other debris to cleanup before then.

And the house needs cleaning before my dad's arrival tonight.

News from the Country Estate 10/18/09

Greetings from the Country Estate!

A cold rain falls outside, soaking everything. Its a good night to be inside in a warm dry house.

Autumn is in full swing here in Maine at the Country Estate. We've been spending a good bit of time walking among the leaves painted by the Great Artist. Our search for land on which to start our own country estate has yielded two front runners both around 25 acres, one in Alna and one in Dresden. So we've been following orange survey ribbons marking boundaries and looking at trees quite a bit.

On the work front, I've been subcontracting for a growing company called Sustainable Structures while I plan my next long term move in my building and woodworking career. So many aspects to it and such a short life to master all of them!

I've decided that I want to raise some oxen. An Ox is simply a steer (a neutered bull bovine) which has attained the age of four years and, presumably, is trained to work. Oxen require a lot of work to care for them, but can work in situations a tractor couldn't dream of (yes, tractors do dream. they even have psychoanalysts to interpret their dreams). Some of the land we've looked at presents challenges as to how best to harvest timber, and a team of oxen would meet some of those challenges. Don't get me wrong, I still want a tractor. KT says I will NEED a tractor, but Oxen will help too.

Milk Crisis

Coming from Wisconsin, milk has always been part of my life in one way or another. Whether I'm having a four-serving bowl of Cheerios with a quart of milk in it, or a quart of vanilla yogurt, there has always got to be a large quantity of bovine lactose based food in the house.

A friend recently pointed out to me that the roots of milk consumption among the lower classes go back to the days of medieval feudalism in which the lord of the manor owned the meat of the livestock, but the peasants could take the milk. In those days, milk was the primary source of proteins and fats for those who could not afford to eat meat. That legacy lives on as we continue to pour skim on our wheaties every morning and add half and half to our French Roast.

This article refers to a so-called milk crisis of boom and bust cycles that hurt both customer and farmer. Just a few years ago, I would be sent to the Super America station with a five dollar bill to get TWO gallons of milk (1 skim, 1 2% if you were wondering). Our household drank those two gallons in about a day and a half, and subsequently would run to get more. By the time I moved to Maine the days of cheap milk were over, and we had gained a taste for Organic whole milk (especially the widely available Organic Valley milk, approx. $4 per half gallon), the price of milk had risen to over $3/gallon and higher. After drinking organic whole milk in glass bottles from somewhat local farms, we've found our own solution to the milk crisis: buying farm direct, raw/unpasteurized, fresh, whole, non-homogenized milk right from the bulk tank @ $4/gallon. Its pretty much the best milk you've ever tasted. The farm is located not 10 minutes from here on a corner in the road named after the excretion of the bovine (a picture of the sign is here)

Come to visit and we'll pour you a tall glass of this pristine bovine secretion!

Up with the Sun, 41 degrees fahrenheit.

Everyone needs a little holstein steer mooing at them when they come in the drive way.

And chickens to lay fresh eggs (that black rooster attacked me not two minutes after this photo. I was ready for him though, as I had a stick. Gotta show him whose boss.)


Recent porch restoration job. New Framing, post feet, decking and a couple steps.


The time comes every year to pull the boat out of the water. The back end of my truck is almost in the water, while there is a trailer underneath that boat strung out on 3o some feet of chain.


If you look close on the left, you'll see my friend Paul in a little dinghy leaning under the boat adjusting the jack-stands that stabilize the boat on the trailer.

After a couple hours we had her on the hard and the mast dropped (no easy task, but this time pretty painless) and all the rigging tied up and ready to roll. I dragged her to my house first because I had to go to work.



Today a new job starts on Westport Island.