Today was our in-town day, and a fine one it was. We took the truck because I needed to get a bottle of oxygen for my torches. We went to the Suomi Restaurant which seems to be out habit the last several times. Then I dropped Alice off and did the errands. I picked her up at about noon, and drove to the lumber company to get a sheet of plywood for the camper project, and then home. We did stop and get 3 more quarts of strawberries on the way home to give to our neighbors the Krumms.
After unloading we had some lunch and then I took a nap. When I got up I started back in on the dock project. I needed to drill about 13 3/8″ holes in each auger pipe. These go on the end of the dock and help hold the thing up (along with the floats under the dock.) I got the holes drilled, hauled the pipes out to the pond along with the tools and fittings I needed, and then tried to slip the pipes in their carriers. I started with the bottom one, and got it part way, but needed to lift the whole thing up to get it the rest of the way through. If that step had worked, I’d be able to report a completed dock here. But no! I turned my back to get something to prop it all up and the thing flipped over and tore out 2 pretty substantial lag bolts in the process. Disaster! So we put it away and had some supper. Tomorrow is another day. I already have plans how to fix it and make it stronger. And I think I’ll ask for help holding the thing up when I insert the pipes tomorrow.
In other news, I called my neighbor; the one who borrowed our tipi so his son and his family could sleep out in it while they were visiting. I learned the visit went great, and that the novelty of sleeping in a tipi lasted the whole three nights they were here. We plan to leave it up to air out completely, and will then go over and take it down until the next time. If you haven’t already done so, you can look at a slideshow of us putting the tipi up by scrolling down and clicking on the appropriate link.