The great copper gutter adventure

As the old wooden gutters on Balsam Lane were looking a bit long in the tooth and leaking at every joint we agreed it was time to replace them with something new.

We also chose to add a 14 foot piece to the garage when none was before so this involved modifying the existing trim to delete the crown mold and provide a flat fascia for the hangers to attach. The image above is the "before" photo.

and the "after" image of the fascia now ready to accept the new gutter.

The front of the breezeway after I took the old gutter down also needed some prepping.

But once the new copper gutters went up, it really dresses the old house up. The archway and lattice on the breezeway was something I built 20 odd years ago as well.

the back with the long runs was a bit more difficult to set up working solo.

But I made up the bit along the garage with the inside 90 degree miter, end cap and set it on some temporary brackets to hold it close to where it went, yet give me some degree of movement so I could solder it to the 18 foot leg along the house.

the end result . . .

The front entry required making up an inside 45 miter that failed to arrive with the order, so I had left it for last. This also helped while I got past the initial learning curve.

not too shoddy for a first try . . . . truth is, I had to do it three times over before I got the thing to fit right.

As I was short one downspout thimble but had an extra downspout slip connector I got creative and modified it to suit the task.

and the 1/4 ball end cap went a bit smoother

In place.

And while we were at it, I replaced the old cedar treads on the front steps with new composite decking.

and since I was right there, we had another squirrel den to repair. This one turned out to be occupied by a flying squirrel. As I was cleaning out the nesting debris a big eyed creature poked its head out of the gap and leapt for the edge. Just as I thought that was a mighty long leap for a tiny squirrel, I looked over just in time to see it spread eagle in mid glide making a beeline for the pine tree.

and now fixed.

Got caught in a couple of hard downpours last week

but it gave me the opportunity to see where a couple more bits of gutter could be added.
so using some left over lengths . . . .

I made up an outside 90 degree miter with home made end caps and downspout thimble.

and an 8 foot length . . .

to test out for looks. If it all looks acceptable I will order some more fittings and downspouts and make them permanent.

After a while even the red squirrels seemed to get used to me. This little fellow was about 2 feet away.

Portland to Ogunquit

Last Saturday dawned bright, sunny and unusually dry so we went for a ride down the coast in the Decathlon.

we depart from RWY 18

crossing I-295 over to the tank farm in South Portland

a good view of the tank farm

Over Cash Corner looking north-east to Portland downtown and the harbor

Over Spurwink marsh on the South Portland and Cape Elizabeth line looking at the harbor and Casco bay

The islands with Fort Gorges out in the middle

Portland Headlight in Cape Elizabeth

Ram Ledge Island Lighthouse

as one of the many Cruise ships that visit this summer heads in to the harbor

a bit closer

The pilot boat tags along side

With Portland and Mount Washington on the horizon

We round the end of Cape Elizabeth coming up on Kettle Cove and Crescent Beach with Richmond Island along the left edge of the photo.   The far peninsula . . . . .

 . . . with the sandbar as well as Richmond Island are all Sprague property.

we shoot an approach to the ultralight strip on Richmond Island

and fly past Phineas Sprague's runway on Spurwink Farm . . .

 . . . and someone's ostentatious ode to affluence

Black Point with Higgins Beach below us

Over Ferry Beach looking at Scarborough river and Pine Point

and from Pine Point back the other way

along Grand Beach

and Old Orchard Beach looking towards the pier

A powerboat with a parasail

looking back over our right shoulder at the pier

Past Camp Ellis we look at Wood Island Harbor

we see Basket, Sage, Negro, Wood, and Abernakee Islands

Over Biddeford Pool

and Fortunes Beach and Goose Rocks

The marshes always hold special fascination for me

We bump around the Kennebunk no fly zone on the far Peninsula where Bush Sr has his residence, and are over Wells beach with Drakes Island Beach beyond the harbor entrance.

and make our way down to Ogunquit

then it's off to Sanford for some fuel

And we top off the tanks

making our way back to KPWM, we are brief spectators of a soccer game

and take in some farmland views

about to enter the pattern for KPWM, we hook around Scarborough Downs

and we are downwind for 29 as we cross the end of 18

as we turn base we can see that the cruise ship is now docked

just over the Merrill terminal on short final

about 200 ft AGL

as we cross over I-295 again

seconds from touchdown... and other perfect escape