12/30 - 12/31/90

2hrs. With my Dad's assistance put up drapery rods + drapes on 6 windows in main room.

12-10-90

Fuel gas came + filled propane tank to 85% (was ~20% full) → Total price = $X

12-1-90

1 hr. Raking + shoveling the road near cabin + barn in a semi-successful attempt to repair the ruts + chewed up lawn caused by Detroit Edison's heavy trucks.

11-26, 27, 28-90

Detroit Edison was here from 9:30 AM → 12:00 noon or 1:00 PM each day to replace 2 of the electric ppoles at E. edge of lawn. Power was out for ~1/2 hour on Tuesday + 2 hours on Wednesday. Brought 2 or 3 longer trucks + 4 people each day! (a slight bit of overkill).

11-19-90

Talked with H.M. about getting chimney repaired → University is reluctant to fix it because they fear its use will increase their heating bill! If anything, it should decrease it, unless one were stupid enough to run the propane heater at full blast while the damper was open. Probably the real reason is that they don't want to invest any money that they don't absolutely have to in this property. So the fireplace will remain idle + the wood piled at the E. end of the house will continue to rot with "the slow, smokeless burning of of decay".

11-16-90

S.P.A.C. - Sponsored SNR Bonfire 6:00 PM - 12:30 AM. I didn't get here till 8:00 PM (Forest Ecology duties + dinner delayed me), but all had a good time despite a cold front and a brisk wind off Third Sister Lake.

11-15-90

Keith Berven came for 3-4 hrs to repair fence around his kettle swamp study site (wood frog study), place buckets of soil (?), + removed fallen tree(s) (for which purpose he borrowed the chainsaw for ~1 hr).

A limnology class came out ~1:30 PM. What a gorgeous day! Sunny and ~65°in the shade.

11-3, 11-6, 11-8

Sewed 12 panels of drapes for 6 1st floor cabin windows.
Total time: 3hrs + 6 hrs + 7 hrs = 16 hrs

11-1-90

• Spent 45 minutes gathering tinder + kindling for SPAC bonfire (11-9-90, 6-10 PM), and sorting out [writing unclear] logs from woodpile at E. side of house.

• Spent 15 minutes making new oil/gas mixture for chainsaw: ~1 gallon gasoline : 2.6 oz 2-cycle engine oil (which is about a 50:1 gas:oil mix).

10-17-90

had free estimate done for work to repair chimney + fire place [Robert's Chimney Service]

                           ↓

supposedly, the lack of a damper in the fireplace is allowing large amounts of heat loss from the cabin → so repairing the chimney + installing a damper should yield heat savings in 2 ways:

1. Less heat loss
2. Use of firewood instead of propane to generate heat.

                            ↓

however, it will cost $870.00!! Will SNRE be willing to pay? Stay tuned for further developments.

10-16-90

Finished mowing (1 hr)→ pull-cord on mower no longer retracts → need to repair!

10-14-90

• 4th coat of paint on W. wall cabinets
• Touched up window frames
• 2nd coat of paint on floor

4 hrs

• Most of lawn mowed [by M.R.] → 1 3/4 hrs
  

10-11-90

• Final scraping + sweeping of floor
• 1st coat of paint on floor

4 hrs

10-10-90

• Water heater finally repaired! (heating element replaced)
• Washed + swept floor (3rd time) + more scraping
• 3rd coat paint on counter top

2 hrs

* 1st officer's log: on leaving @ 7PM, I found the gate blocked by a white VW rabbit diesel, license # XXX XXX. After a few minutes, its owner, a woman with 2 vicious dogs who were busily lunging at everything  that moved, came up the road. She said, "I didn't know there were any people here." Let's hope that's it for the year! The cabin could come with a cellular phone so one doesn't need to drive backwards (!) all the way to the cabin to call for a tow truck. What a pain!

10-9-90

• Repaired refrigerator → new plate glass for crisper to replace broken glass, brass bushings + [writing unclear] to support wire grating where plastic supports had broken off, + attached handle to crisper drawer. → 3hrs
  
• Moved belongings in from barn
  

10-8-90

• Put 2nd coat of paint (white) on bench top at W. wall cabin.
• Washed couch with deodorizing enzyme solution (2nd treatment)

1 hr

• Moved belongings in from barn.
  

10-7-90

• Scraped new paint off window interior
• 2nd coat paint on wall + on cabinet interior (below sink)
• 1st coat paint (white) on bench-top at W. wall of cabin.
• Put shelf liner paper on W. wall cabinets (upper)

5 hrs

10-2-90

• Painted lower walls w/ non-yellowy white latex enamel → 1 coat.
• Painted interior of cabinet directly beneath sink (orchid pink) → 1 coat.
• Repaired handle on cabinet door beneath sink
• Scraped bench-top of cabinets on W. wall of cabin

5 1/2 hrs

9-25-90

5 hrs:

• Scrubbed + scraped walls in preparation for touch-up painting w/ white latex enamel.
• Cleaned cabinet under sink - it was unbelievably filthy!
  

9-22-90

6 hrs:

• Finished 2nd coat of paint on all window frames + cabinet exteriors/interiors → put 3rd coat of paint on W. wall cabinets (exterior only)
• Scraped floor again + swept.
  

9-20-90

3 1/4 hrs + 4 3/4 hrs = 8 hrs → Finished 1st coat of lemon ice + began 2nd coat.
4 hrs → mowed lawn → used scythe on edges of lawn that had not been cut all summer → especially near Dr. Hehman's boat, and on the SW portion of the lawn near the old cart w/potted geranium. Also cut off line branch on recently dawned box elder (just E of 2 willows near lake) so could mow lawn in that area. Raked areas with a lot of sod + stems lying in clumps.

9-19-90

1 hr. → more 1st coast of "lemon ice"

9-18-90

6 hrs. → 1st coat of "lemon ice" on cabinets + inside window frames.

9-16-90

10 hrs:

• Scraped + sanded all inside window frames, rescraped floor, washed floor, rescraped floor a 2nd time.
• Scraped South Wall
  

9-14-90

Left 2 copies of boat key with Dr. Lehman.

9-13-90

• Road graded
• Water heater still not working
• Dr. Hehman's limnology class was out on lake w/several boats ~3PM → he asked if I could replace the lock that was broken off chain by city (?) when S.L. was away during last 3 weeks of August.
• 1/2 hour: Checked main roads → no trees down.
• 7 hrs: More scraping, stripping, sanding, + washing.
• bought lock for boat + 5 copies of keys.
  

9-12-90

5 hrs.

• Stripping cabinets continues (what a tedious job!)
• Called J.H. for:

1. grading road
2. fixing water heater
   

9-11-90

6 hrs:

• cleaned refrigerator (w/M.R.'s help)
• began stripping many layers of paint off cabinets
• planed sides of cabinet doors so they can be shut properly
  

9-9-90

I (P.S.) move in + S.L. moves out. Decide to do much painting + scraping in cabin before moving my stuff in from the barn.

3hrs:

• scraped cement floor, removed large, smelly rug
• cleaned windows, window sills, + walls + shower
• cleaned trash out of streambed near lakeshore
  

8/7 - 8/29

Gone west! SF looke after by C.C., M.B., C.L.

Returned to fine no problems but long grass + a dead salmon at the gate. Why??

4hr. Mow + rake. Put lime on salmon to reduce stench. Un-bury walkway to cabin.

7.13

Fire extinguishers checked by public safety.

7.7

Old red Chevette (?) XXX XXX at gate 11:30 PM. Encountered middle-age curly blond ♂ near cabin.

[Michigan Department of Public Health] Tests the well water for dioxane.

Responsible for us getting the bottled water.

7.4

5 hr. Repaint loft ceiling, finish constructing rail in loft, paint rail.

Yesterday (7/3) arrived at noon to find the willow tree by the lake draped in white fabric with a nude woman posed against it being photographed. I suggested to the couple that some visitors might find this offensive + they packed up and left - promising to "be more discreet" in the future.

6.30

3 hr. Mow + rake. Also -- bought stove at Kiwanis

6.17

3 hr. Mow + rake.

6.8

Carolina wren again singing... Later found trapped in the front porch.

Three birds have been caught in that porch now in less than a year.

• Pine siskin
• House wren
• Carolina wren
  

5.12 New birds -

Swanson's Thrush - several
Black & white warbler - 1
Tennessee warbler - 1
Nashville warbler - 1
Magnolia warbler - 1
Black-throated green warbler - 1
Chestnut-sided warbler - 1
Ovenbird - 1
Common yellowthroat
Redstart (5)
Northern oriole
Whitethroated sparrow

5.9

Great crested Flycatcher
Catbird
Yellow-rumpted warbler
Carolina Wren
Redstart
Tufted titmouse
Wood thrush
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow
Chimney Swift

4.23

Jim Birchfield's Wildlands Management course in AM to present management plans for the Forest.

4.21

Wildlife Society Bonfire 4PM - midnight.

30-35 people

15 April

Pied-billed Grebe
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rupous-sided Towhee
Brown creeper
White-breasted nuthatch
Golden-crowned kinglet
Song sparrow
White wrens
Robin
Downy woodpecker (pair)

14 April

Osprey on lake
Fox sparrow

14 March

first mosquito of the season!

13 March

frogs beginning to call.
Keith Berven here to check on frogs.

3-12

Golden-crowned kinglets
Song sparrows (2)
Killdeer
mid 70's today!

25 Feb

Another break-in reported at the gate. Student from Jim Circhfield's class looking at alternative management plans for the forest lost a window + his backpack. It was reported to the sheriff.

7 Feb.

Another break-in to a car at gate ~$200 lost from leather backpack by X. I encouraged her to call the sheriff.