Okanogan 14x24 by a lurker :)

[OlJarhead]

Got a pic of a nice buck walking past the cam recently...but there were two and they took their time That old cam has to go!

Meanwhile, since I can't do much with my right arm my son came out with my wife and he did some weed wacking to clear stuff around the cabin and a friend worked my driveway and roads down to dirt for fire breaks...I then (after ten days of nonstop work) managed to get a couple hours to start grading my driveway/road up which is in desperate need.

I'll be working a lot still but not as much as I was so perhaps I can get some tractor work done now

O and we harvested some cereal rye to   Not much, but perhaps enough for a loaf of bread or two

[JavaMan]

Tendinitis really is the pits.  I hope your arm heals up quickly, altho it will simply take time and not using it much...

From what I've been able to tell the fire is 100% contained now, and didn't get any closer than about 5 or 6 miles from my place - it stayed south of 20, thankfully.

Thanks for the link to the page with the info.

[OlJarhead]

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3967/
82% contained and improving.

Yes, Tendinitis sucks!  Had it before (pretty severe) and this is a bad one with my right arm very painful for over a month now but it is getting better.

Now if it can heal before the winter so I can put up some firewood!

[pocono_couple]

looks like you have some neat neighbors!

[OlJarhead]

Newest game cam -- cheaper one but still works well in good light...night vision is a bit crappy but better than my old one.


Another shot from the Tasco


Cam my wife bought me   Much better game cam



I think I've seen both these bucks in here before so I'm fairly certain they live here...I also only see them in the middle of the night.

[OlJarhead]

My neighbor to the east is a young guy (an his sister) and he tore up his place playing in the mud last year (and the year prior) and then left and hasn't been back much for the last 18 months or so.  Thanks to his tearing up the grass some Canada Thistle has taken hold and I couldn't leave it be as it's invasive and will take over in no time.  I found at least 200 square feet of thistle and spent an hour or so treating it with round up.

I'll let his uncle and grandpa know (they live out here too) and perhaps they will help treat the problem before it takes over the area.


I took this tonight on my walk about the property.  I'm looking north towards my place and you can just barely see the roof (left 3rd) as well as my neighbor (the uncle mentioned above) in the right 3rd.


No bear on the game cam but found some scat so I know he's prowling around still.


The Cereal Rye has been dry for nearly a month now and should drop all it's seed soon.  The animals haven't eating much of it yet which might be good as they should hit it hard during hunting season (I hope)

It's good to be back at the cabin gotta admit that I love being here.

[OlJarhead]

Oh how I love this place!  Can't say enough how awesome it is to be here and to have been able to live here for most of the last year.  Alas, living here isn't meant to be for now so I'm settling for 2-3 days a week or every other week (on the company dime mind you).

Despite having a very sore arm (that is healing however) I managed to get a door made for the outhouse today!  I've been dying to do this for a while no and just decided it had to be done (sore arm be dammed).

This outhouse is rarely used (maybe 6 times in the last 8-9 months) and will remain mostly as a backup for those rare times we have guests and need the extra capacity (and ladies prefer if the gents use it anyway).  However I still need to get it sided and finish the roof etc.  At least now it has a door though!


I'll be honest, this is my first door!  I also did it with just a couple power tools (skill saw and drill) since my miter saw, table say and everything else is in the back of my truck some 180 miles from me (to keep it out of harms way in case the fires get too close).  I also made this with rough sawn 1x's of random widths and didn't plane them etc.  I just cut them to length, glued them up, screwed down the cross pieces and braces and called it good

All in all, for a rustic outhouse door I'm pretty happy and I can see making a much nicer version for the bathroom inside the cabin.

I should also turn that handle right side up too! lol  not sure why I put it in that was...guess I was looking at it upside down.

While up here today the propane guy came and filled up my tank so I'm back to 400 gallons which ought to last me until next summer (and beyond).

Our gate is a little narrow and short but at 12'6" there was more than 2 feet of spare headroom and a foot to either side (plus some) and the truck had no problem.  That's a 2800 gallon propane truck built on what looks like a Kenworth frame (I didn't check)...it's about as big a trck as I'd expect to get in here so I'm happy with that....and since the driveway up is only 9 feet wide I'd say I'm golden

[OlJarhead]

That big truck really has to squeeze down the driveway here...


Wide enough here but steep...


This spot leaves only 6" on either side of the truck but is short enough to not cause much of an issue (or stress)...

But we managed to get him up and down without a worry so I think we're good to go and I won't worry about the driveway or ranch entrance any longer

[OlJarhead]

Back at the cabin for the long weekend to get some things organized and maybe get some firewood cut for the winter (if my arm allows since I have tennis elbow pretty bad).

One thing I need to remember is to get some old D's and string them up to keep the wood peckers away!  They like to roost under the eves and it's ticking me off! lol

ON a side note I forgot to bring some bread for sandwiches etc so I just made some


It's not only great tasting (1/5th stone ground spelt flour & 4/5ths white bread flour) and better for you than store bought but the cabin smelled divine while it was baking (and the rest of the evening)   SO ya, I think I'll have some toast today!

Cheers
Erik

[JavaMan]

Looks like some really nice bread!

[OlJarhead]

Looks like some really nice bread!

It was thanks   In fact I made a second batch in case I had company but I ended up working on the place too much to visit.  Though one neighbor popped by for a couple drinks and a nice visit on the new deck

[OlJarhead]

Have had a great weekend and a productive weekend at the cabin   Oh sure, I know I'm here more than most can be since I live here at least part time but much of that time I have little time to get stuff done and this weekend was all about 'getting stuff done!'.

I post pics but photobucket seems to be having issues so I'll post those later.  In all honesty I have to try to think back to Friday when I arrived and try to think of what I did.....what did I do? lol

I moved in, walked about, made bread and had a relaxing evening.  Saturday I started by cleaning out the rat infested shed and organizing it for use again.  I managed to get some felt up to protect the OSB whihc was now devoid of house wrap (that was on it 5 years ago when we bought the place) and used hardware cloth, spray foam and cement mix to fill in holes under the shed to start making it much harder for the rats to get into it.  Then I set to getting firewood split, then went out and cut down some dead trees for more firewood.  I also fell some trees in a spot I needed to thin them.

At some point I shifted gears (probably because my tendinitis keeps me from doing too much of one thing for very long) and even got my truck unloaded (it was full of all my power tools from when the fire was getting close).

Sunday on a stroll around the property I ran into some bear tracks and took some pics.  Looks like a sub-adult about 150 lbs or a small adult.  Then I got back to working on the firewood by hauling down a bunch of 'flitches' from the sawmill site (also called slabs) and bucking them into firewood.  Eventually I set to making speaker boxes which I finished today

I also split and stacked a bunch more wood.  I'm almost ready for the winter now!

[OlJarhead]

On a side note I had an issue with my AIMS inverter/charger that I think I've resolved now.  It would not kick on the charger to charge the batteries when the generator came on any longer.  I couldn't figure it out and had to reset the inverter to make it kick the charger on until today!  I'd switched it over to 'shore power mode' previously and even though I'd flipped the switch back to battery mode it appeared to not take.  I had to flip the unit off, switch to battery mode and then turn the unit back on and now it works again!

I think it was just stuck in shore power mode and when in that state it will not kick back onto the shore power until it passes a timer setting to ensure the power is stable which is what I think was happened.  It also may wait for the batteries to drop to specific voltage first too (I'd have to go back and read). Anyway, it's working now so I'm pretty happy with that.

[OlJarhead]

Speaker box


Tractor helping secure the shed


Woodshed getting there

[OlJarhead]

Made a door for the back room.  It's not installed yet but at least it's made now!


Getting some window trim done


Got a mantel made out of some live sawn pine we planned on using for a shelf...other shelves also done.

Been a good weekend (long) and my battery is dying so I'm done!

[rick91351]

The work never seems to end.  Nice looking shelf.  Are you going to need a shield on your stove pipe that close?

We have had a couple chilly mornings down here how about up there? 

[OlJarhead]

With the stove burning I felt no heat at the shelf but remember looking into the clearances a while back and should be fine.  I'll have to check when it's really cranking out the heat though in the dead of winter to know for certain.

[OlJarhead]

Ahhhh vacation!  How I wish I were still on it   Still much was accomplished.  I added another row (plus) of firewood tot he shed -- all very dry -- and have at least another 30 feet of a big dead fir to buck, split and stack so I'll be good for the winter now   Also managed to get felt paper on the shed where the old house wrap had blown off and covered the outhouse in felt also (except the roof).  During our 5 day stay at the cabin we also topped off the batteries with distilled water (they were getting low but still good), cleaned some terminals and exercised the transfer switch a few times (it was working each time too).  I also realized the system (at least the original components anyway) was now 4 years old!  The batteries are hanging in there and I think I have another year or two in them yet.

With the deck stained (one coat), doors stained and back side of the small room stained I'm feeling better about the upcoming winter.  Still have lots to do but with time and effort I'll be more prepared this year

[rick91351]

I think it is a good feeling to have a lot of wood laid.  And plenty of food a few books that you always wanted to but just never.....  Then let it snow and blow....
Oh wait your not retired  forgot about the job thing!  Oh well there is always weekends..... 

[OlJarhead]

Very good feeling!  Will be even better when it's FULL   And knowing I won't be here all winter makes me feel good about not needed the 400 gallons of propane that we have in the tank

I'll be shutting the place down for weeks at a time this winter as my main office is in Moses Lake now.  However, today I'm here (And loving it) for work and will be back next week and weekend too   I plan to get some work done then but tonight I'm just relaxing.

[OlJarhead]

You have to love a job that allows you to live (at least part time) in your cabin   I'll be here until Sunday at least and hope to get some work done around the place.  Have a milling job to do near by also but with luck I'll get a little wood put away or some panelling worked on etc.

[OlJarhead]

Well I never managed to get any cabin work done this week/weekend but I did mill up about 700 board feet of Fir for a neighbor to use as panelling.   I'll be back to mill some more in a couple week so I might not get much work done at the cabin this fall but at least I'm earning a few extra bucks to pay for things like fixing my plow blade!


This monster was so big I had to whittle it a little with my chainsaw to get the mill past it on the sides!


Last log of the day milled into a CANT

Didn't have time for many pics so this is all you get

[OlJarhead]

Watched a monster buck from 260 yards today.  He was getting ready to bed down and now I know where he's sleeping  

Then I milled up a bunch of lumber for my neighbor.  Not getting anything done for myself mind you so that has to start soon!  I have much to do before the winter sets in but time has flying past!  I did however order the stock tank heater and extras for the grey water tank and in a week or so I'll come back and start putting that together and maybe add a foot of dirt on top of the piping, insulate the down pipe, add some heat tape and then perhaps wood chips etc to try to keep things from freezing up.

I've also though to building an 30 lid for the grey water tank too, that way it will be less likely to freeze and the warmth of the stock tank heater (which will only run when the genny runs) will help a lot more.

[JavaMan]

Sorry we didn't swing by or let you know we were heading up ... it was still a bit iffy even at the last minute if I was going to pull it off, and once we got there, we were planning on simply working our tails off with very little down time.

If I can find transport in the snow up to my place, I may decine to take a long weekend (or two) and see if I can't get it buttoned up completely so that all that will be left is inside the place.  That would be good because then I could figure out a way to heat it and stay warm while I'm up there.

Anyway - I see you were up this last weekend, also!

[OlJarhead]

Up now too   I spend a lot of time up here because I have an office in Omak