Let's see what's been happening at the cabin!
MARCH
The snow had receded enough to get in to the cabin. Wondermutt and I went up to do some chores.
First on the agenda... continue work on the shower.
This is where Dog-O proved himself especially useful. Just lookit 'im go!
Next up, continuing the shed painting project. Painting can be dangerous. All that repetitive brushing can lead to wrist sprains, carpal tunnel, angry bowels and such. I find it safer and easier to use spray paint,,, buuuut that takes too long. So I usually just shoot the cans with a rifle. It's a much faster way to paint. You just pull the trigger and VOILA! Yer done! On to the next project.
Well, this time I decided to try a more exciting technique - blowing the cans up with an explosive. What could go wrong?
Well, that didn't work out so well. The explosion caused the paint to vaporize in a spectacular fireball -which is cool- but it didn't get applied to the shed. And the explosion sent a shock wave through the corregated metal causing some of the existing paint to come flying off!
That's just downright counter-productive! I guess I'll just go back to shooting the cans by themselves. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I can find to blow up. Hmmmmm......
APRIL
Boy #2 came up with me on this trip. Take note of that old flip-down sofa he's sitting on. We'll be seeing more of that thing later....
JUNE
Some time ago my dad replaced one old window with a new Anderson. The glass in one sash was broken many years ago so the window had been fogged up ever since.
There was an Anderson Window box sitting in a corner for, oh, I don't know... maybe a couple decades. I always thought it contained some extra screens but it turned out my dad had ordered a new sash, took it to the cabin, and never bothered to install it!
So during my next visit I took care of that.
Work continued on the shower. The privacy wall is pretty much done so now I am building a wind break on the north side. That may prove handy, especially when it's -20 F outside. If you think I've never taken an outdoor shower when it's -20 F, you've never been to the cabin with me in the winter.
JULY
While my dad was still taking care of the cabin I never had to worry much about trees falling across the 3/4-mile long driveway.
But it's been several years since he dealt with that and I've learned I have to be proactive about it. I try to cut down at least one old tree each visit. Still, sometimes I have had to cut through as many as three fallen trees just to get in.
Now my new wood shed -barely a year old- is almost full of fresh cut wood!
This is the old gun rack that used to sit outside by the kitchen door. That thing looked like someone took all of 45 minutes to put it together from an old wood pallet.
The thing was literally falling apart. I constructed a new one using some of my dad's rough sawn Cherry wood. I like to think it's a bit of an improvement.
Boy #1 came up to the cabin in late July.
Wondermutt helped out with the ongoing shed painting project...
I have been removing a lot of old crap from the cabin.
I emptied two dressers. Then I burned the dressers.
I have also removed a wicker rocking chair, a LA Z Boy recliner, an end table, countless towels, bed sheets, dozens of gloves, old tools, boxes of dishes and on and on and on...
Now it was time for the ugly old flip down sofa to be evicted.
Boy #1 and I were having a heck of a time getting it out the front door so I called upon my trusty sawz-all...
With the sofa finally outside we decided to see if we could perhaps cut it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Naturally I chose my preferred method of furniture size reduction...
I let the boy have the honors....
That opened up some space! The green recliner is now where the ugly sofa used to be. Kermit the Chair used to sit next to the wood box.
As usual, the day's adventures did in Ol' Fleabag.
AUGUST
When a pane of glass in a window broke, sometimes (read: usually) my dad's solution was to apply caulk to the broken glass...
I guess that's a very pragmatic solution, but I decided it was time to put in a new window here and there...
I like to think this new window is a bit nicer.
As much as I have been working to clear out the cabin, I took a new piece of furniture up. It's a chair I built from the Cherry wood my dad had stockpiled in his barn. It seemed fitting that it should have a home at the cabin.
The pillows were actually made by a seamstress from England!
Work progressed on the back wall of the shower...
Painting is so much fun I decided to start applying some to the old wood shed.
While I go about my chores Dr. Stink has my back, keeping a vigilant eye out for cougars...
It's a good thing, too! He spotted this one lurking around the wood shed.
Some of these northern variety hellcats can be pretty dangerous, I can promise you that.
SEPTEMBER
I installed another new window and painted the surrounding woodwork.
The inside of the shower had a fiberglass liner installed.
OCTOBER
I noticed one section of the living room ceiling appears to be sagging. I decided to go into the attic to investigate possible causes.
I hadn't been up in the attic in a long time. I can't remember exactly when that was and I wasn't sure what to expect.
I found that my dad (and probably my grandfather before him) Had been squirreling old stuff up there for decades. There was an old wrought iron bed, many of the original windows and screens, a door, flooring products, pieces of roofing products, dishes, old bottles and jars, a coffe maker, a strange copper box full of steel wool that appeared to be a home-made electric heater, a lot of lumber, and more.
I filled my trailer with a bunch of the old junk. There is easily another trailer load up there waiting for my next visit.
There were two wood boxes in the cabin. I decided one could go outside and live on the front porch.
I took that box out of the kitchen. That opened up some space. The box used to be under the window between the stove and the cupboard. I could barely open the cupboard door enough to get at the pots and pans within.
NOVEMBER
I suppose back in the day when the cabin was my grandparents' home it was probably nice having wood boxes inside - who wants to go outside on a freezing cold night to get more wood for the fire? But nobody is living there full time so it really doesn't seem necessary. So I decided to take the second box out also. More space to move around!
A third window has been replaced. This one is a nice casement. It really opened up the view.
The shower walls are nearing completion. I have started capping off the top layer of bricks, adding some decorations.
I replaced one of the bedroom privacy curtains. The old ones had been there as long as I can remember and they were decomposing where they hung.
I like to think the new one is a bit nicer.
My nephew had visited the cabin earlier in the year and reported that he had been shocked by the old stove. Three times.
So it was goodbye to Ol' Sparky....
...and a new stove put in its place.
DECEMBER
We had a small family gathering at the cabin...
...including my baby sister...
...her husband, Special Mike...
..my niece and nephew, and their current canines, Stink and Stup.
We visited Ma Deeter's for dinner.
SO LONG, CABIN! WE'LL SEE YOU IN 2023!
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