The Cottage On Turkey Hill Pond

11/26/2016

https://www.facebook.com/mickeyscherer/posts/10210823267398270

07/31/2015

http://www.gofundme.com/4v5w2r7r8

Hi, my name is Mike and I live at 13 Peters Ave. Some of you know me, many of you may not. I purchased my little cottage, post-divorce, in 2011 and have been slowly making improvements. It's been a labor of love. My house has become my sanctuary. Turkey Hill Pond and Cool Sandy Beach have become...

05/02/2015

1st day producing electricity. Pretty neat!

04/16/2015

Going solar at the cottage!!

01/21/2015

Solar install is May 1st. Saweeeet!

12/08/2014

08/08/2014

Yay! National Grid approved my application to install solar panels. So excited. Can't wait until the install. Stay tuned...

02/27/2014

Winter will just not go away!

01/06/2014

I have been hearing the ice crack and pop at night.

12/06/2013

I'm not typically one to jump up on the soap box but having worked on this cottage for a while now I have had a couple run-ins with town officials over building codes. Most notably with the plumbing inspector who threatened to report me to the state for not pulling a permit that they wouldn't let me pull anyway because in not a licensed plumber. I have a long fuse but that day my fuse ran out. Needless to say, I loathe building codes. Not because I think I am above them. I actually tend to over build things and seek the proper way to do them by doing some homework beforehand. I just believe following a "code" or pulling a permit to do anything is extortion from government. Especially, when I am threatened with legal action for not following their rules. It's my house, my land, my life. I found this take on building codes in an online article I read and I like the message so I thought I would share it...

It's in our Star Spangled Banner.... the land of the Free ... and most of us attribute that freedom to our homes. The place we live is our castle, and we are free and righteously justified to do as we please with our homes and our land. Many of us feel that our constitutional right to Life, Liberty, and the Persuit of Happiness is being interrupted by any type of enforcement that tells us under penalty of law that we must comply with anything. Codes should be ethical restrictions where a warning is simply: "Sir for your safety, I must recommend that you A, B, and C. If you don't build that way, you may find this a dangerous situation." Then everyone would invite code enforcement in for their suggestions, and they become the friendly good guy. The fact that you can end up in jail for not installing the way they recommend is what puts the code enforcement department on Santa's naughty list.

-David Webster
Livingoffthegrid.com

11/23/2013

Finished stone steps!