Last summer we needed to level the floor of the main house, which meant among other things, pulling down the old chimney (which was bolted to the house).  Much smashing and crashing ensued.  We cleaned up, I promise.

Before….

After

During….

Thanks to Derek at R&D Building Solutions the house was buttoned up before the winter and a temporary patch was put on the roof (we are working from the ground up…and there is a new roof in the Island’s not too distant future)

Here are some pictures of getting the underpinnings in place (we could not have done this without Dean…)

Petey the dog is unphazed

Hanging by a…

Or, to put it another way….

Click on the image for the full effect

Once that was done, John also refinished the floors in the main house.

Other exciting moments on the island last summer included visits from our large, winged neighbor, The Adult Eagle.  Who knew they liked to go wading.

Oh, hello there… (click for a larger view!)

No summer at the island would be complete without hauling something somewhere (usually the dump).  In the summer of 2012 we got rid of the “brush pile” to the east of the deck as well as the dead dock “being saved for parts” in the swamp.  In the summer of 2013 we got rid of the other brush pile that had taken over a stone wall Tina had created (to trap sand and to prevent erosion)  Here are pictures:

Brush being hauled to shore

John admiring the results

Thanks to Graham we got an electric exhaust fan to start working in the Envirolet (using a marine battery as a power source).  This summer we hope to improve the ventilation even more.  Better ventilation = better composting = happier island residents.  Details to follow.

Apparently Crescent didn’t weather the  Winter of All Winters as well as we had hoped. We are planning a visit soon to survey what needs to be cleaned up, moved, replaced, and hauled to the dump.

Stay tuned!