Okanogan 14x24 by a lurker :)

[JavaMan]

Yeah, if you look at one of the pictures I posted from a couple weekends ago, you can see the "Stairwell" with the ladder peeking out of the top.  It's the "Back" of the building.

I put it there as a bit of an afterthought, since it plays well with the floor joists, and where the doors and windows are.  Also, since the peak of the roof is there, it works out reasonably that you can still stand up as you're climbing the stairs and get to the loft level.

My wife would have done this  if I'd put it just about any other way

[OlJarhead]

Just unloaded a trailer of pine I brought back from the property.  Needs some work though!  Seems this batch warped more then any other....maybe I didn't have enough weight on them, or it was just too dry or too wet or,....who knows but it's in need of a jig on my table saw to saw it straight.

I'm thinking of cutting it all down to 4 foot lengths (for the flooring) to make it easier to work though and perhaps doing the same for the paneling in the loft since I most likely will be installing alone.

[OlJarhead]

NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT leave a battery in the back of your pickup without checking that it is UPRIGHT! Sadly, I was being an idiot and left a battery from the cabin in the back of the truck. Apparently it fell over (first time in 3 years of transporting them back and forth) and leaked ALL acid out. Said acid then dripped/poured down onto the gas tank and most likely a fuel line between the bed o
f the pickup box and the top of the tank (as in hard to reach spot)....fuel shot everywhere when starting up the truck! Yikes! So not I've used baking soda to neutralize the acid (hopefully) and then washed it out as best I could and the truck will get towed to the shop Monday to have the tank removed and any repairs needed done....so ya, it pretty much sucks big time.

[UK4X4]

 "truck will get towed to the shop Monday to have the tank removed and any repairs needed done"

rumage in the garage and dig out those old high school tools- dropping a tank and checking a tank won't take more than a hour or two and save your money !

[OlJarhead]

Thought about it but decided I didn't want to bother.  I'm changing out the rad, o2 sensor and a few other things on my Jeep though -- just for that reason (to save) but when it comes to fuel tanks I just don't like messing with them!

[OlJarhead]

Ouch.

The acid ate up fuel lines as well as the pump itself!  Had to have the entire undercarriage (pretty much) srayed with an acid neutralizer to make sure there wasn't any left anywhere...was a real mess and cost $1200 to fix (ever bought anew fuel pump?  Yikes!  Fuel lines? ouch!)...had a few other things done while we were at it but the final $1400 price tag hurt

Ahh well, lessons learned!

I've had a second interview for a job and am crossing fingers I'll get a 3rd in a week.

With luck I'll land this job and be back earning a living again soon

[JavaMan]

Wow!  I hope you get that next interview and job ... you'll be able to cover that repair in no time, and get back to working on what really matters... the cabin!

[OlJarhead]

Wow!  I hope you get that next interview and job ... you'll be able to cover that repair in no time, and get back to working on what really matters... the cabin!

THanks   I hope so too!

[OlJarhead]

As the job search continues the cabin work slows down, but I'll have plenty to do here at home for the cabin in the coming months as I'll be working on flooring and wall paneling so we can finish it off this winter hopefully.

My next trip is planned for the coming weekend and I'll be picking up my son while I'm there.  Then we have another trip plan later in the month also.

First order of business will be to get ready for the winter so more wood cutting and such, then I'll have to try to get some work done on the roofing (finishing some things off) and if I'm lucky can get back to other areas that need work.

I'm getting exited though as it's been nearly a month since I was last there!

[OlJarhead]

Finally!  Heading out tomorrow for a week at the cabin   Can't wait to get there and well, just do cabin stuff

[JavaMan]

Nice!  Wish I could take a week up at mine... altho, I really wouldn't want to be able to because of a lack of employment!

Hopefully the job hunt is going fairly well.

[OlJarhead]

Back!

Not sure about the job hunt but might be in line to start with a crew putting in 4g sites in WA.  Hate to do travel work but need to work so will take what I can get.

Meanwhile, had a great week at the cabin!

Started out Friday by fixing the water supply system with some fittings to better run the pex etc and got the barrel installed that I'd had at home and cleaned out thoroughly.  So with that done had plenty of water   No real air in the supply line either so it was a quick fill up from the cistern.

Checked the orchard and the trees are AWESOME!  Growing like weeds.  Everything is dead around them from the dryness (always dry this time of year) but each of the 5 trees is an oasis of growth thanks to the drip irrigation I've installed.  Only downside was the crappy timer died from water exposure rusting the connections and I guess frying the board -- funny but you'd think a WATER timer wouldn't do that.  Ahh well, I think they'll make it now

Saturday I spent most of the day grading the road to our place and it really turned out nice!  That evening I decided to double check the disks my neighbor was going to leave for me but I thought she'd hacked up for scrap...a check discovered they were intact (albeit old) so we hauled them up to the top of the property and tried them out.  THEY WORKED!!!!  I was stoked.

Had a night of darts and JD   Was a good night!

Sunday I disked up about 1 1/2 acres for a Cereal Rye field I plan to get planted next trip (just over a week from now).  Also did a lot of clearing on it (small saplings).

Monday was firewood day   Cut down 3 or 4 dead pines and hauled them back to the woodshed (bucked up).  The tractor makes a great wood getter

Tuesday I picked up my son (he's moving back for a year) and we mostly hung out and relaxed as he was fighting a cold and had a long bus ride getting to Osoyoos from Victoria but Wednesday we chopped up about 3 cords of wood and did some hunting

We managed to get some poly on one of the interior walls today before leaving but all in all had a great week at the cabin

[OlJarhead]

Here's a shot of me disking the field I want to plant Rye in.


The full view. 


I now understand why farmers have bandana's! lol -- actually add overalls and straw hats to that


The field is ready (I think) for planting.  I need to remove a few more trees (saplings only) and disk the areas those were in but shouldn't take long.


Another great use for the tractor

[OlJarhead]

Here Kitty Kitty


Poor quality game cam picture (I need a new fangled one I guess) but still obvious what's there once I lightened it up.

[OzarkBrandon]

Tractor needs a wash after all that disking!  Maybe I missed it, but I was curious why you were planting rye?  Round here, I think it can be planted to build up soil, for ground cover, or as a food plot - was curious if one of those was the reason of if it served a different purpose in your neck of the woods...

I have been enjoying the build - thanks for taking and sharing the pics.

[OlJarhead]

All of the above actually

Cereal Rye can be harvested for the seed (bread making etc) when grown in a more dense amount then I'll plant but some day I hope to do just that.  Meanwhile, though, it's good for fixing the soil and my soil needs it!  It's also good for game animals and as a weed preventer.

I hope to put in some hay some day too and maybe some wheat.  Who knows?  Mostly I'm just having fun disking up the field and planting SOMETHING

[OzarkBrandon]

Hey, you bought a tractor, you have to do something with it!  I'd love to have 4WD, but would settle for and old Ford 8N, because they are so common and would do most of what I want - I just need to buy some land and start a house first...

[rick91351]

Glad to see that your trees did well!  Ours from St Lawrence did great as well, even in this summer heat we had.  We did increase the water to two five gallon waterings per week when it did get hot.  We did that for all the trees.  It was in the high 80 and 90s up there a lot of days weeks on end.  So I would suspect a couple days of 100.

Next couple weeks we will be mostly moved out of here and living up there in the little fifth wheel.  We should have lots of time to do trees guards and supports for the winter.  I think we will do some rebar supports with those apples.  Tie them off with jute string and see how that does.

 

[OlJarhead]

I was down to 6 gallons per week for the last month and this week they won't get any water but I'm hoping they will remain fine since they have done so well.  My timer quit (again) and I'm relying on my next trip to water them some more but I'll probably have to get a new timer to make sure they continue to get water until it starts to freeze all the time.

Going back next week to plant the rye and do a little clean up.  Can't wait!

[JavaMan]

Good to see the trees did well!

I'm planning on this next weekend up to my place.  Gonna get the top on come what may.  I think I'm going to tell the boss that I hope to be in on Monday, but if not, I'm taking a vacation day to "git 'er done!"

You would think that the water timer would not have an issue with getting wet - what's up with that  ?

I'll have to look back in your thread to see how you did the tree watering system as we have some here on our property that need to be watered more regularly.  Lots of apples, but not very big.  Spent some time yesterday coring and drying them.

Good to see you made it back in one piece.  Sweet on the discer... nice deal! 

[OlJarhead]

Our watering system is a simple and inexpensive drip irrigation system (thanks to Rick for suggesting it) run by a garden timer.

I think the timer should have been sealed better when closed up and left and rain must have gotten into it -- cheap and crappy design.

[SkagitDrifter]

Nice- Lots of cats around this year, not so good for the deer.

[OlJarhead]

Nice- Lots of cats around this year, not so good for the deer.

Yup -- didn't see ANY last trip

[Runnerdave]

OlJ, I think we're neighbors (if you call within 15 miles or so neighbors) and I've read your post from page 1.  This is my first posting/reply and I have a ton of questions for you but I'll save most of them for another time. Hopefully I'll get my own page started soon.  Looking at your page, you discuss adding to your structure or adding more structures in the future. From where you stand now, do you still plan to grow your current structure?  Or would you have just built a bigger structure to start with? I'm heading up to the Okanagan tomorrow morning for the week - putting in septic.

The support and sharing here is fantastic and I'm anxious to get started with both my structure and posting. Have a great week.  (Seeing those pictures of the cats have me a bit spooked). When you organize the Okanagan rendezvous, please add me to your list.

[Yonderosa]

It may not be the cats getting the deer spooked.  The "Stawberry" pack was recently confirmed as the ninth "official" pack in WA.  I had my first encounter with them four years ago.  Their territory is just south of OJH.  One of it's "suspected" members was recently collared near my place.  A 104 pound female. 



They caused quite a stir on our side of the hill last spring.  I've not seen many cats as of late.  Probably all over at Skagit Difter's place now.