More Trees In Maine

So last week we planed a couple trees at our house. We decided that for our anniversary each year we would plant a tree and this year we went with a Colorado Blue Spruce. It's in the fenced area, but the dogs are leaving it alone for the most part.

The other one that we planed was a memorial for my grandfather, Ormund, who passed away this summer. We found a Norway Spruce - as he was very proud of his Norwegian heritage - and planted that on the hill so that it will be visible from the road, house and yard as it grows over the years. We planted it on the same weekend that other relatives planted an Oak back at the lake house in Forest Lake, Minnesota. The trees will stand the test of time, much like our memories of Grandpa and all that he gave to us. I miss him very much and hope that I can do justice to his memory by conducting my life in such a way that would make him proud.

End of Day 1

And here we have the opening images from Day 1... there's actual progress - if you call removing awful green siding progress... and I do!

FYI

It is really a loud process to pull things off. I'd forgotten that. At least the dogs are used to it and not barking all the time. That was a long first 2 hours.

Work Begins...

Fun days... folks just started pulling down the old shakes and clapboard siding on our place to make way for new house wrap, insulation and then NEW SIDING and TRIM! Yes!!! We will have a house that looks like one building and one color and, hopefully, much more energy efficient. All good things (I think). All those months of saving are going away in the space of just a few days... kind of a shock that, but looking over the big picture of what it means for the place a big leap forward.

Pay-as-You-Throw/Curbside Recycling

So on Monday Pownal took a big step in moving to a pay-as-you-throw trash collection process and including curbside recycling. This means that folks will no longer be able to leave anything they want out and it will be picked up - instead trash bags (either 16 or 33 gallon) will have to be purchased at local stores and used.

The idea is that this will cut down on the tonnage of trash waste that Pownal produces and thus lower the cost of the trash collection fees while increasing the amount of recycling that takes place. Previously recycling had to be taken to the "silver bullets" down by Mallett Hall (the town hall)... now residents will simply leave it out on the same day as trash collection.

It was a very close vote, passing 65 for - 62 against, and time will tell if it is as successful as it has been in neighboring towns. If it is, then the cost that Pownal pays to have it's trash picked up will go down, but if residents are doing remodeling, throwing out large items (furniture, appliances, etc.) then they will have to either pay to have them taken away, or purchase a tag to allow them to dump it at Freeport where there is also a fee for the weight of what is thrown out.

We're happy that it passed because this is a service that we would use and would help us - seeing as we throw out very little - and we hope that it will encourage other residents to examine the amount of trash they generate and reduce that where at all possible.

Here is our girl Lucy, just seeing how the pictures work. She's not too happy these last few days, the rain has kept her indoors for most of the week and weekend and we were doing work in one of the rooms - putting up drywall for a new ceiling that will make the area where a wall came down more uniform and look like it was intentional.

Just Getting Started

So this is blogging... I'll be going through this and seeing how well it works for letting folks know what's going on with us here in Maine and just general things overall. Hope it is a good experience all around!

Here we go...