Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[glenn kangiser]

While I was out there something came over me......


A flashback from a bad trip... no I never did drugs......


I felt like putting on my nice soft fuzzy sweater......


Maybe overly thirsty....synapses not connecting..... help me......helppppp meeeeeeee ...  




Don't click the picture to find out.......






I said no but Sassy made me do it......

[glenn kangiser]

Somebody has a full tummy...





and not complete without the Watch Dogs.....

[glenn kangiser]

In all fairness, the dogs don't lay around doing nothing all day. [ouch]

They stay busy trying to rid the area of mice, skunks and woodrats..... then they go to sleep.

Princess was really into checking one out today..... Check her sniffing it out....

[pmichelsen]

Man, I would love to be your neighbor!

[glenn kangiser]

Well, at least we are in the same state, so If we can't be neighbors, at least maybe we can get together sometime.

Quite a few Countryplans members around here and Yosemite is always nice, or maybe some day we could check out the Redwoods....though travel by car in California can take quite a long time.

Dang.... I think hanging out with cows is making me pretty crazy.... why did I let her talk me into posting that Mr Rogers flashback...........

[Sassy]

    He shouldn't have filmed himself singing...   

[glenn kangiser]

It was just meant to be a joke... like.... you expected sanity after I came home from the cow pasture and instead you got a bad Mr Rogers spoof..... [ouch]

Possibly there may be a talent scout for American Idol in the audience.....  

[rick91351]

It was just meant to be a joke... like.... you expected sanity after I came home from the cow pasture and instead you got a bad Mr Rogers spoof..... [ouch]

Possibly there may be a talent scout for American Idol in the audience..... 

More than likely a little known cowboy syndrome.  It ranges from what you experienced to a way more complex case documented near here.  Though I never met him there was a old cowboy over around the Jordan Valley, Oregon area.  He worked those huge ranches over there.  I was told when I was a kid he would ride the cattle and quote Shakespeare word for word.

There might be hope if you get treatment right now before old reruns of Sandford and Son start manifesting.  Or The High Chaparral, Bonanza, and Gun Smoke....Mr. Dillon, Mr. Dillon three bad men just rode up to the Longbranch, and Miss Kitty is in danger.  Ya better go now.         

[glenn kangiser]

Dang it, Rick.... now I'm a gitten it worse.... [ouch]

"Git along little dogie...." wait a minute..... why do they call them dogies anyway?  I thot they's cows..... hmm

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dogie

Jordan Valley.... seems I remember one speed cop parked behind a sign with a malfunctioning radar gun that said everybody was speeding and a little Kangaroo court if it's the one I'm thinking of.... though they never caught me there....

This morning the neighbor came up and said something went through the fence.....


All I could think of was cows scattered between here and town munching grass along the county road... though it just didn't seem right.  They should have been happy there...... I loaded hay, grain, wire , tools and dogs into the Bush Hog and took off.

At the high bank by the road it was obvious something went through the fence.  More examination showed that I had failed to warn the deer that there was now a barb wire fence at the top of the road bank.  One had hit it hard and left a bunch of hair on the barbs as he chose to go through instead of over.  I tightened the wire back up, but the cows were not in sight.  We went down to the bottom and still no cows but there was still a second lower pasture a bit past the water ravine and another one.

Back to the road and a 800 foot down hill hike through trees and brush took me to the meadow.  As I suspected they were there just enjoying the heck out of their new digs.





Ever cautious, Clown was still not trusting me too much when I first arrived... How soon they forget.....  



Now for that 1800 foot hike back up the hill.......

[rick91351]

Jordan Valley.... seems I remember one speed cop parked behind a sign with a malfunctioning radar gun that said everybody was speeding and a little Kangaroo court if it's the one I'm thinking of.... though they never caught me there....

Winnemucca Nv. on the same highway US 95 had the same reputation.  North of Winnemucca the city limits were like three mile out there.  Nothing there but these sort of dunes and desert brush.  Oh ya and a city cop.  You had been rolling across Nevada at 70 - 80 mph.  35 mph and nothing there is just way way to slow.

Pay the man .... eat breakfast at the Model T..... on to Reno!  Tickets and breakfast were cheap back then.      

[glenn kangiser]

Yeah... I had an 18 wheeler pulling a 45 foot reefer (owner/operator) from 79 to 83 or so.  I liked to travel cross country rather than the freeways, so did Winnemucca and Jordan a few times.  I was hauling whatever down and tool boxes back from Winters, Texas.  Stopped by Shiner, Texas once and bought a case of Beer.....

I had to be careful in the small towns as well as the freeways.  The public servants loved to snag me for a bit of their paycheck....

[glenn kangiser]

I picked part of the winter crop yesterday.  I have experimented with different things growing on the hugelkultur bed and most things have grown pretty good.  I had some of this green Cauliflower several years ago and when I saw the plants at the feed store I had to plant some.

Our winters are a bit rough up here but the winter garden does fair.  One came out very good - others were fair to not to good but I didn't spend any time caring for them either.  Here is a pix of the best one.



I got an old tub put in down the road at the other pasture for cow water.  I hadn't seen the cows and couldn't find them on the Bush Hog so the only thing I could do to be sure they were OK was to hike down the 800 foot hill and back the 1800 feet up again.  I'm getting pretty good at it now though.  Toughening up again after 5/8 mile of fence building in a couple weeks.  I think I may be getting too old for this though....

[ben2go]

That's nice looking.Gonna eat good.Just gotta get out there and cut some stake.LOL

[glenn kangiser]

You got it, Ben.

Nothing like the slow grown vegetables struggling to get those nutrients and good taste from our poor clay soil.  Generally always excellent flavor and we are working on building the soil up for more production with less water.

We are also working on eating the meat and vegetables from the freezer so it will be ready for a fresh supply around the start of summer.  They have a lot of grass to eat until then.

[glenn kangiser]

Fueling up the generator this morning I realized that I hadn't put any pix of it in here since we switched to it a couple years ago.  

This is a used Lincoln Commander 400 welder with a 10KW generator built in.  You have to be sure to check out the capacity of the auxiliary generator on welders as they are not all large.  Some big welders only have a 3500 watt or so generator.



I think it is best to get one with the 1800 or so RPM engine rather than the newer 3600 RPM engines for best service, fuel efficiency and longevity.  I use the DC welder output to charge the batteries directly but the disabled fuel gauge on the Murphy switches shuts it off in 1/2 hour after starting.  I view this as a feature rather than something to repair as it prevents overcharging the batteries and is a reasonable increment of time for charge and checking the batteries.  

The charge of the welder does not taper so it could boil the batteries if left on without monitoring.  Currently I charge the bank at 220 amps, but have the capacity to charge at 400 full time.  That would require sufficient sized cables.  I only recommend this for ones who understand what is going on.  If questionable, a better choice is to use the inverter charger powered from the aux. power generator on the welder.

 

This welder is powered by a 3 cylinder air cooled Duetz diesel, which is pretty efficient using a small amount of diesel for a lot of charging.  The 10KW generator has enough power to assist in running a lot of my big shop equipment too.  It is a heavy duty 10KW generator and will start my 7.5 hp Ironworker with no problem where the 10KW on my Miller welders would not start it without relieving the hydraulics.

[glenn kangiser]

We likely have student guests coming from UCLA and USC in the next couple weeks so Sassy wanted me to make my token improvements.....

We were looking to give the loft a bit more privacy and get some more shelving so I made a corner shelf for the kitchen.  That covers one of the windows in the corner looking into the loft that we decided was unnecessary.  Things tend to change over time to better fit the way you live, when you live in an organic underground house that grows with your needs.



Now it will be Sassy's turn to finish it.  I just do the rough stuff.  So... Sugar Pine corner shelf in "Early American Settler w/screws" style - per Whitlock..... took about 2 hours.  I'm such a fine artist....so particular and obsessed with the details...... [ouch]

....and went to check up on the cows today again.  Trying to do it every day for a while since they are in the new pasture.  Didn't see them at first but as I got out and walked around I looked up the hill above the dams and they were there at the edge of the trees.... very happy...... while there I checked the dams.  Both were still holding fine and had water in them ... nice clear water now.  It was obvious that the cows had found the water helped themselves to it, without destroying the dams.



On the way back the dogs found themselves a special treat .... sun dried to medium rare, cow pies....yummy...

Come on guys, there's enough for everybody......  





I went to get some wood after checking the cows since it was on the way out.  

They came over to check me out so I went back to the house and got them a hay and grain cow treat and took them up to the tub water trough at the road.  If I get them to go to an easy place for me to check regularly, then I don't have to go way down the hill to see how they are.



I took a worn out grinding wheel center hub with a 5/8 x 11 thread.  The aluminum hub is 3 inches dia., so it was just the right size to bolt and silicone over the drain hole in the bottom and I siliconed a tin plate over the overflow hole so I could fill it clear to the top...... works great.  [idea]

[Ernest T. Bass]

Really like that corner shelf! Did you glue the individual pieces or is all just screwed up? (In a good way, I mean..)

[glenn kangiser]

It's all screwed up, Andrew.  

I don't do much around here so what I do do, I like to do fast.  If my son happens to read this I want to make it clear that I did not say doo-doo, because I am sure he would make a big deal out of that....

This may cause cracks between the boards as shrinkage occurs.  Most of the time I find that this does not harm the function of the solid pine furniture, shelves etc.

If I do get freaked out about it, I can rip a strip of wood to glue in there and fill and finish it later when shrinkage is done.  I might do something like that on the island our cooktop is mounted on.  It has a 1/4 inch gap.  The only problem there is that you need to be more careful not to spill something and leak it through on a pan or dish below.  Should fix that... but then again, don't want to rush things and mess something up.... (That's an excuse to not jump up and do it any time soon......)

I usually build things in a manner that the gap will not be a problem with the function...ie: The gap will not cause anything to come loose or affect functionality.  There is also the possibility of a broken screw, but again, that does not create much of a problem and only adds to the rustic charm.... wasn't that hammy.... sounds like a real estate agent....

Think I'll have to have Sassy start referring to me as "Your Royal Rustic-ness" ..... [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

Looking more at the shelf I decided I did not like the way it looked without a top on it, so I took it down for Sassy to finish and put a top on it while I was at it.



For some reason along with the slight blue stain this Sugar Pine has a bit of a nice orange stain too.  I think it will look nice with a couple coats of Polyurethane on it.

I think it has a more finished professional look now....

OK ... just kidding about the professional look....it's only supposed to be simple and functional.... [ouch]

[Ernest T. Bass]

No, you're right; much more professional! Very cool and rustic.. I've been making my own share of pine stuff for a guy in town this winter.. Fun to work with.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks, Andrew.  It just seemed that it should have had the top when I was looking at it sitting in position.  So ... the cheap lazy way I invested about another 15 minutes in it.

I really wish more people would see the value of building things out of real wood.  Yes - it shrinks a bit - can be simple or complicated, but at least it's not made out of glue and sawdust covered with a piece of fake wood printed plastic film. 

[glenn kangiser]

Just got back from working the Bay area and Sassy had the shelf finished with three coats of poly, so we got it put up today,



I think it looks a lot better.

[Ernest T. Bass]

Gorgemous! I like your bit about particleboard.. The cheap desk that I'm typing at has a post added underneath to keep the top from folding in half under the computer's weight. 

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks, Andrew.  I'd rather have a shrinking green pine board shelf than an off-gassing, bowing, fake-wood hunk of particle board any day.  

[Sassy]

Well, our 5 guests from Univ S Cal (USC) just took off w/Glenn in the Cherokee Jeep for Yosemite.  We have 4 people from China & one from Taiwan.  Glenn fixed a big breakfast of fried potatoes w/onions, bacon & some fresh veggies from the garden w/melted cheese on top & scrambled eggs w/onions & bacon.  Very good!  He gave me a break from cooking (I cleaned up the dishes). 

About 40 people came up to stay w/the families from our church.  All from USC - mostly Chinese & Taiwanese, a few from India & one from Sri Lanka that I know of.  A really nice group.

It snowed last night & there's probably a lot of fresh snow in Yosemite so should be really pretty.  The high temp there is supposed to be between 35-39 - it's 51.4 outside here.

I gotta drive down to the valley (Glenn calls it hell) & work.