JANUARY
WonderMutt and I paid a winter visit to DaCabin for a couple days.
There was a wonderful layer of fresh snow, blanketing the ground and covering every tree.
As usual, Dog-O wasted no time retrieving his ball from the wood shed.
While I was unloading the car, Dummy posed for a portrait.
Anyone in the market for a slightly used dog? Anyone...?
The next morning the sun rose behind a thinly overcast sky, producing a semi-diffuse light.
FEBRUARY
The first week of February dog and I paid another visit. There had been a significant snowfall in the days after our previous visit, but warm temperatures took care of most of that. The receding snowcover on the ground made it look more like late March than the first day of February.
A new piece of equipment was added to DaCabin's DaSoundSystem.
A rockin' new subwoofer!
Hard to believe I built it myself, eh?
I have a troll living in DaTrumper!
Well, that's where turds belong.
The morning we were packing to go home I noticed something odd. There appeared to be a very fine, light snow coming down. It would barely have been visible if it had not been shimmering, reflecting morning sunshine like slowly descending diamonds.
The strange thing was, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and looking out the windows, there wasn't a speck of snow on the trees. So what was this and where was this coming from?
I went outside and saw that overnight the treetops had been covered with a fine, spikey frost. It was falling to the ground like tiny, almost invisible icicles!
The temperature was just right for my morning shower!
Man, that's BRISK!
My peaceful shower view
MARCH
In the middle of March there was a short string of days with temperatures nearing 60 degrees F. There was barely any snow left at all.
Still, it went down below freezing at night. I had begun using firewood out of my new shed, having exhausted the supply in my dad's old shed.
I built some birdhouses and installed a couple of them around the front yard.
Work has begun on the floor in bedroom 2. I have a variety of ceramic tiles that will replace the ancient 9x9s, many of which are broken, stained with the tar adhesive, or have come loose.
I plan to start with a wood grain border around the wall perimeter. A few of the border tiles can be seen along the wall on the left.
I returned to DaCabin the last weekend of March and began laying down the tiles. I have three kinds to work with - a white woodgrain, a gray/brown woodgrain, and large cream color tiles. My original plan to have the dark woodgrain as the outside border wasn't going to work, I dont have enough material for that configuration.
I spent over an hour rearranging tiles and calculating if the new arrangement could work.
Finally I found a plan that will work. The outside border will be the white tiles, followed by an inner border of the gray/brown, and the cream tiles will fill in the center.
I'd probably never get the job done without this guy's assistance.
APRIL
Work continues on the tile floor...
I hung a suet feeder for the birds in front of the big picture window...
...and replaced the old roll-down plastic shade with new curtains.
MAY 2024...
Walking around the property I encountered Mr. Pocupine.
I found that the suet bird feeder I had hung during my last visit was gone. I guessed that maybe a Wiley Squirrel or other woodland critter had absconded with it. So I purchased another feeder and also installed a camera trap to see what critter may have made off with it.
When I returned in late May I got my answer.
For comparison here is Dummy in the exact same spot as the bear. That's where suet feeder #2 was found on the ground, a little beat up and empty. Dummy is having a lick at the remnants. For reference, he (dum-dum dog) is going somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 lbs. I think the bruin has the weight advantage on him.
JUNE 2024...
The new tile floor is completed. Now I need to find another project!
New speakers were installed in DaCabin's DaSoundSystem. Now we're really rockin'!
JULY 2024...
I have started installing a new floor in the shower. It's constructed from the fire bricks that used to be in the chimneys.
I also replaced yet another window. The trim work will be completed later...
MORE TO COME....>>>>>>>
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