MARCH
I replaced two more utilitarian roll-down plastic window shades.
One window now has some nice curtains...
And another window had horizontal blinds installed...
APRIL
A spring ice storm sent Boy #1 and myself north to see if any trees had fallen on DaCabin.
A neighbor had texted me, telling me my driveway looked like "a war zone".
We couldn't even reach the first gate without cutting through fallen trees.
We hiked into the cabin, cutting and moving some of the smaller debris as we went.
We got a fire going in the stove, prepped the chainsaws, and headed back out to tackle the mess.
It was cold, freezing rain was coming down. We spent a couple hours clearing trees.
We were doing just enough clearing to allow a car to get through. We got about halfway back out to the car before calling it quits. We retreated back to DaCabin, ate, got some whiskey in our bellies (not necessarily in that order), played the Guess The Next Song On The Radio Game for a while, and called it a
night.
The next morning we went back to clearing. After another couple hours or so we finally reached the last tree blocking the driveway.
With the driveway now clear -enough- we drove in to DaCabin, packed up, and headed home.
MAY
There were three fair sized pine trees guarding the front of DaCabin. The largest was completely dead, the other two mostly dead.
They were about fifteen feet from the cabin, so after the recent ice storm experience I decided it best to have them taken down.
I had the tree service leave the trunks standing about 15 feet tall. They'll make nice habitat for woodland critters for years to come
As a bonus, I have a nice big brush pile left behind that will keep me busy for the next several visits.
The kitchen/dining room section of the cabin is an addition. There is what used to be an exterior window between the kitchen and living room.
I took one of my dad's Cherry wood slabs and made a new shelf to put in the window.
JUNE
Dog-O and I went up and did some yardwork and chores. I worked at reducing that pile of brush and logs from the pine tree trees I had cut down...
I guess it's going to take another visit or two...
About the same time my dad had the chimneys rebuilt -about three decades ago- he installed new flooring in the living room, a sheet of vinyl. Time has caught up with it, it's peeling up around the edges and seams, and has suffered some damage here and there.
So I've started to replace it with ceramic tiles.
It's a long, laborious process becasue my dad put down some pretty tenacious adhesive under the vinyl. It probably takes me something close to an hour to put down a single 6" x 36" tile.
Thanks to global warming -sorry Trumpsters, it's fucking real- ticks have become much more prevalent. In late spring and early summer I know I'm going to get hit hard by the little blood sucking MFers.
No amount of permethrin and repellents will stop all of them.
Fortunately the final score on this visit was
Lakweesha 16
Team Tick 0
Not one of the little bastards managed to bite me before meeting a swift end to their short, brutal tick lives.
Next time, try getting a real fucking job
old code starts here......
The old window over the kitchen sink was a hand-made awning style that opened INTO the cabin. Kinda funky, it was.
It has now been replaced with a new vinyl window.
August 2024...
I installed composite trim around the window installed during my last visit. Nobody will ever have to paint that part of the window frame.
The trail camera continues to snap photos of the local wildlife. Let's see what's been lurking around since my last visit...
YIKES! SQUATCHES!!
August 2024
The last days of August I visited the cabin with Boy #1 - who hadn't been there since Jan. 2023, and Boy #2 - who hadn't been up since April 2022.
I brought my Dad's .22 rifles for the boys to shoot, but instead they pulled their old BB gun off the rack! They spent all their shootin' time plinking away with that old toy I bought when they were little.
Meanwhile I continued to work on the new floor going in the shower...
While I was working I saw this guy around the old wood shed, where he lives. I've encountered him three or four times now over my last handful of visits to DaCabin. Being as we are becoming so well acquainted I have given him a name - Bob.
Later Boy #2 and I took a walk down the path to the little creek.
The second evening of our visit we made a campfire and roasted DaMarshmallows...
Boy #2 also invented the roasted snack stick
The second day we took a trip down the river. It was a mostly overcast day - the temperature only in the mid 70's, so we had almost the entire 2-1/2 hour trip to ourselves.
Afterward we had our traditional post-river dinner - steaks, baked potatoes, and fresh corn.
When I pulled the Spaaaaace Griiiilll out of the wood shed I found Momma Mouse had (yet again) built a nest in the thing and was inside with her babies.
So we improvised and cooked the steaks over the fire.
A meal fit for a king!
SEPT 2024
The forest service had paid for a crew to clean up and survey the entire property line, all four sides. It gave me an opportunity to document exactly where the lines are and hang some new signs. We were walking along one boundary line when I discovered that someone - I suspect the survey crew - had embellished my decorations and signage with a whimsical splash of red paint.
...aaalrighty then...
As we headed back to DaCabin I discovered something else - Mr. Bear's home!!
I've lived in worse
MORE TO COME....>>>>>>>
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