Drains and Frames

I have installed another draining system on the trails. This was a different situation (no initial puddle/mosquito pit - just soggy trail.)


I dug a trench in the soggiest part of the trail. The water immediately began collecting in it, so I dug a slope so the water could run off the hillside. I then filled the trench with gravel (which was not an easy job, seeing as how the trench was in the woods in an area inaccessable with a wheelbarrow.) I covered the gravel with larger, flat rocks to (hopefully) prevent/slow buildup of leaves in the gravel.

I also went back and covered all the PVC pipe at the older drain site.

We had a few rainy afternoons this week, so I spent a fair amount of time completing smaller jobs indoors. One that I am specifically very proud of is organizing the paint area.

I didn't take a before picture, but I assure you that it was bad. I didn't even know we had drawers in the paint area (so I painted on labels.)

Dave, Ashley, Anna and I have been working all week on framing some windows for the Home Design/Build class. Because the structure is being built with rough-cut lumber, the pre-made frames that came with the windows weren't the right size. We had to adjust them. So we milled all the wood and built the frames for five windows (several different sizes.)

Then, the Home Design/Build class installed them.

The Home Design/Build class is over now; there was a nice celebration last night for the group. I still find it incredibly odd to have class switch-overs.

Yesterday was my last day of intern duties. My next two weeks should be a completely insane rush of Community Design/Build. I'm pretty excited about it. After that, there's an intern reuinion that I intend on staying for and then I'm heading home. I'm amazed at how fast time is going by here. It doesn't seem so long ago that the core class was here, and they were my first introduction to the school. Strange.

Window Sills and Giggly Interns

This morning was dedicated to folding fliers for the summer lecture series. There were six people in the room, working in teams of three. One person folded, one put tape and a stamp on and the last put the to and from mailing address stickers and stamps on. There were a thousand fliers being sent to Vermont residents. It was a fun, chatty time.

Karie, Tim (2) and (work trading) Ryan working as a part of the three-person team.


Ryan and I worked on the window-sill that we started yesterday. (There's a garden shed that one of the classes built that needs some finishing work before we take it to it's final destination off campus.) Yesterday, I was having the worst time trying to come up with dimensions and plans for the window jams and sill. (Especially since the terms were new to me. Rough openings were the most confusing part, it seemed.)


Ryan worked on cutting and marking the sill.

I made the jams. The windows fit fabulously.

This evening, the interns and I went up to Sunset Rock and watched the sun set over New York and Lake Champlain. It was a beautiful hike and a great time.