The Hermit Photo Album

The Early Years
The Cabin was built in 1972 using hand tools and 100% reclaimed materials. It has a lot of charm, and it was home for twenty years - ten without electricity, running water, etc.
Life in the cabin tended to be firmly in the moment and completely in tune with the environment.

The Outhouse In the absence of electricity and running water for more than ten years, the outhouse was one of the very first and most essential services. It's still synonymous with peace and quiet and relief.

The "Relief" casting comes from the outhouse of "The Birches", the Fulton-Peet cottage on Murray Isle, Thousand Islands, NY.

Hermit's outhouse is a two-seater, Pilot and Co-Pilot. It has been moved twice. Cave-ins.

Firewood
Hermit's heated his hovel and cooked his grunts on wood stoves for over fifty-five years. Based on avg consumption, that's 729 "runs" (8' x 4' x 16"), and over 240 solid cords (8' x 8' x 4') of firewood up in smoke.

Gram said "He who heats with wood is twice warmed", but scientifik resurch says more like a factor of ten.

The New House
From a stump in the woods to the New House in the woods - what a long strange trip it's been!

Classic Sauna
Homepage for the Hermitage sauna. These pictures are of the original sauna. At the bottom of the page there are links to photos of the sauna renovation and new sauna.

Wintertime Around The Hermitage  What is snow? We do not know. But snow is fun, this we know. Grab your mittens, it's toboggan time.

Second Blueberry Planting, 2016
Finally gave up on the blueberry patch way over in the orchard. Deer you know. We put the new patch right beneath a picture window and fenced it with plastic netting and tee-bar.

2016 Vegetable Garden
It was a good garden year and featured an exceptionally good pepper harvest.

Pond Cleaning
Sediment removal, September 2021

Pond Cleaning
Sediment removal, July/August 2005

Fawns & Doe, Part 1  A pair of fawns and the mother, photographed on two different occaisions during summertime.

Fawns & Doe, Part 2  A different pair of fawns, photographed on two different occaisions during fall and winter.

Fox and Fox Kits  A leash of three fox kits playing and practicing their pouncing licks in the driveway. Early June.

The Stream  There are 3 streams on the property. The one here runs between the cabin and the new house. It feeds the pond and for the first ten years it supplied water to the cabin - carried by hand at first, and later drawn by the hand pump in the kitchen window.

Chipmunks!
Of the many creatures that hang out around the Hermitage, chipmunks have to be not only the most photogenic, but also the most social and congenial. Simply irresistible!

Moose on the Loose
Two moose take a stroll around the leaching field.

Lichen and Moss Just for you the Hermit gathered these photos of moss and lichen from around the Hermitage.

Both are unique and beautiful life forms that play an important part in the environment around us.

Learn more.

Lichen, Moss & Fungi The Hermit gathers Lichen, Moss & Fungi around the Hermitage

Eastern Townships Ice Storm, 2013
The epic 2013 ice storm here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec provided a mandatory week-long vacation from electricity - a "Hydro Holiday". It was just like the old days!

Total Eclipse, April 8, 2024
Under a clear blue sky, and nearly dead center beneath the center line of totality, watching the eclipse from the Hermitage was so optimal that an alien dropped by for the view. Very spooky!

Tiling the Wood Stove Wall and Floor
After a few years it became apparent that 1-5/8" of plywood was insufficient to support our 850-pound wood stove without sagging.

So the job was undertaken not only to bolster the floor, but to finish it and the concrete block wall behind the stove. This entailed a fair amount of work as the low-bid mason had laid the wall up 1-1/4" out of plumb!

Replacing the Original Cabin Porch Roof
Over its 50-year lifespan, the original "temporary" cabin roof roofing paper had become a regular roof-top garden of moss and lichen.

An easy job I thought, only forty or fifty square feet of roofing to replace. But as I began putting up the scaffolding I realized what a can of worms I'd opened.

Summer 2021, Repair & rhythms Projects At the Hermitage
Sagging porch, replacing wooden posts, picture window, outside stairs, reconstruction of Newhouse front porch, pond cleaning.

Summer 2022, Repair & rhythms Projects At the Hermitage
Replacing rotten sills, Newhouse porch roof and siding (WIP).

995 Before & After
A total renovation complete with addition, 2002.
Included entire interior, electric, plumbing, roof, basement cement floor, windows and doors, etc.

The Gizmo Gadget
A Multipurpose, multi-sensory, multifunctional Four-Hand 555 Sextet
Designed & Assembled in April 2017

Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be Sharp!
A sharp chain saw is a formidable tool. A dull chain saw is frustrating and dangerous. Based on 50-plus years of chain sharpening, here are my best pointers to keep your saw sharp and cutting efficiently.

Shop Project, Making a Box Joint Jig
To securely ship the cylinder head off my 1969 Triumph 650 Bonneville engine I made a wooden shipping box. To make the box strong I made it with box joints. To make the box joints I made a jig to fit on a table saw sled. This is how to easily make box joints with very good precision.

Carpenter Capers: Driving with Davey
Reminiscences of time spent with friend and carpentry partner Dave as we fulfilled our mutual quest to carry forth the tradition of unsupervised carpenters doing crazy, nutty things.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I don't want a pickle.. just wanna ride my motorcycle!
Getting a Quebec motorcycle driver's liscense is quite easy really. It just takes a lot of time and a lot of money. But first, take a look in your wallet.

Out of the Mouths of Babes
Arts & Letters: selected writings and illustrations of our very own.

Adults tend to forget (or ignore) how perceptive children are. And isn't it a shame how perishable idealism can be?

Summer of '66
Our world has a way of connecting things in the most surprising ways.
In this story a slightly disasterous motorcycle trip and a USAF Drum and Bugle Corps become intertwined in a completely unpredictable way.

Hermit's First Triumph Motorcycles
There's just something about the classic Triumph motorcycles. A few somethings actually. Elegance, grace, and beauty!

Original Sinetifik Resurch
How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?
Don't tell me you've never wondered
Well, the data is in! No need to wonder anymore!

Over Fields We'll Go, In a One-Horse Open Toboggan

Jingle-bells, jingle bells!
The Appaloosa Express - 30 Dec 2016.

Snack Time on the Range!
Trygva, Jasper, and Emmet gather around for cookies!

Gibson
A day (or two) in the life of Gibson the Appaloosa colt - Photos and Videos

Pippen the Peculiar
Mysterious. Magnificent. Heat seeking. Able to hide beneath speakers for six weeks without food or water.

Little One
Little One feels sleepy after a porch snack, 2003

India, 2008
Here are some photos LA took during one of her Concordia University International Affairs trips to India to foster research partnerships and projects.

Mostly traditional architecture and artwork, along with some vintage, early 20th century industrial technology on display.

Shunda Lake, Cline River Alberta
Photos of Shunda (Fish) Lake and the Cline River, near Nordegg, Alberta Canada.

Royal Tyrell Museum
A baker's dozen of photos taken on an outing to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta Canada. Take the tour!

Montreal Street Art
Manning the barricades and making the rounds of Montreal's street art scene.

773rd Radar Squadron Reunion
Attention Airmen. Attention Airmen.
All 773rd Airmen report immediately to Montauk Long Island.

Vermont Style Homemade Punt
Seen at Paddy's Snack Bar, North Troy, VT

Put together Woodchuck ingenuity and down-home craftsmanship and what do you get?

In this case, a homemade punt made from nothing more than a sheet of roofing tin, a couple of planks, and a handful of lead-collar nails.

Happy sailing!

Here fishy fishy fishy..
Paul fishes, 2002-2008.
After Uncle Jim departed for the Muskellunge Hall of Fame in the Sky, Greg took up all the slack in his line.

Then, before I knew it, he'd hooked Paul and had him casting like a pro and reeling in the big ones!

Greg and Friends Fish in Virginia
A few photos from a couple of Greg's 2013 Virginaia fishing trips: Bull Run Creek, Chamberburg Reservoir, and Pohick Creek.

Greg and Friends Fish in the Thousand Islands NY
Greg feeling right at home in the Thousand Islands. Good friends, good times, good fishing!