Notes from Maine - 2024/07/28
Yesterday was stressful. I built the cabinet for the double ovens in the basement and then had to strap it to the dolly, wheel it through the back yard, up the deck stairs, in through the mudroom, and then down to the kitchen. The cabinet stands 90 inches tall (2.3m), and is 30 inches wide (76cm). When I finally got it into the kitchen, it occurred to me that I hadn’t measured if it could be tilted up in that room. The bottom of the beams is just slightly more than 90 inches from the floor. My only hope was to tilt it upright between the beams and then spin it into place.
I got lucky. Now the cabinet just needs a face frame, several coats of polyurethane, and then I can mount the ovens in place. Next, I’ll be working on the island. All my deadlines are self-imposed, but they loom large. I have a million drawers and cabinet doors to build. I haven’t built a single upper cabinet yet. My dreams are filled with all the details I’m afraid I’ll forget. So many lighting decisions need to be made before the upper cabinets are installed—I don’t want to miss any opportunities.
Outside, Earl (big Shire horse) is feeling much better. He still has twelve days of antibiotics left, but he looks almost 100%. Maybelle (little spotted draft) has been really enjoying getting extra feed. They both get locked up in the morning and evening so I can put Earl’s medicine in his food. He’s ambivalent, but Maybelle will knock me down to get in her stall so she can wait for the bucket to arrive. She pokes her head through her window and watches me carefully while she grunts and tosses her head.
People say, “As long as I remember, I was fascinated by [blank]…”
That’s not true for me and horses. I haven’t always been fascinated by them. In sixth grade, I sat next to Melanie and she had a horse book. She flipped through, showing me pictures. That’s when I became fascinated with horses. When I was a teenager, I rode a horse for the first time. Coincidentally, my college roommate was the son of a horse veterinarian—I learned a ton from him. By my twenties, I was leasing a horse and taking riding lessons. I bought this house because it had enough land to build a barn and make a pasture. Someday I’ll be too old for horse chores. I can’t imagine what I’ll do.
They’re such interesting friends—giant but gentle, and clever but dumb. The only “problem” with having horses is that you can never travel confidently again. The key to keeping a horse alive (they’re always trying to find a way to get sick) is to spot and treat any potential malady immediately. You have to be able to recognize the most subtle symptoms and then come up with a plan of action within hours, if not sooner. One could argue that I’m just inventing excuses to stay home because I’m too lazy to travel. That may be true, but horses can be notoriously fragile.
By the end of this week, the first of my summer visitors will arrive. The whole month of August will be filled with guests—what a nice treat! I’ll take a break from all the projects and get to spend some time simply enjoying the nice weather. The kitchen is just barely functional enough to support houseguests. I have a sink, refrigerator, and dishwasher. You can’t easily prepare a meal here, but at least there’s a way to clean the dishes. I don’t have countertops yet, but I can put down some temporary plywood or something.
I’m not sure when I’ll get counters. That’s one job I plan to hire out. I enjoy learning new skills, and I briefly entertained the notion of pouring concrete, but I abandoned that idea a while ago. It’s too much effort for a single project and there’s a lot that can go wrong. I want something durable, maintenance free, and I want someone else to blame when something goes wrong. Everything else in the kitchen will be my responsibility, but I’ll use the counter installation company as my scapegoat. If one of the cabinet doors doesn’t close right, it will be because the counter damaged the frame. Floor isn’t level? Counters.
