08-31-13

I would like to apologize for not warning you that I would be gone for a few days.

Monday 08-26-13

I went up to the cabin Monday afternoon, arriving there around 2:00. I unloaded the jeep and moved into the cabin. The rest of the day I just enjoyed being there. I try not to do any work the first day.
I took a walk up to the Bear spring to see if there is any water. The Bear spring is about 3/4 of a mile from the cabin and up hill. It is too far to pipe water to the cabin but I figured that, if there was water in this spring, the one Bob tapped up by the road should have water in it also as it isn’t quite as high as the bear spring.

Tuesday:

The cabin is officially done!

 
I put the last piece on the stair rails.
From here on everything else will be maintenance, repair, or modifications.

I started to work on the cabinet to house the refrigerator.
I am using the dining hall as a shop. I should actually call the dining hall the shop because it is only a dining hall a couple of times a year and a shop the rest of the time.

I set up the van and the lumber conveniently outside.

Then I started cutting the boards I will need for the cabinet.

Wednesday:

I worked on the cabinet.
By the end of the day the cabinet was finished except for the tin back panel and installing the refrigerator. 

I am expecting my friend Bob to come up this evening. He can help me get the cabinet onto the porch and can help put the fridge in the cabinet.
Bob showed up around 6:00 in the evening.

Thursday:

After breakfast Bob and I moved the fridge cabinet to the porch and he helped me put the fridge in the box.

While I was putting the fridge project together Bob drug the 300 ft of 5/8 drip line up the hill to the spring he tapped last year (Bob’s spring), where he connected it from the spring to the tank.
Now, we once again have two springs feeding the site.

Later in the day we drove the jeep up to the Bear spring. About half way up to the spring the road crosses a gully. We stopped here and on foot we followed the gully up the hill to where we found another spring. There are probably several springs along this gully. We will have to investigate further at another time. These springs are a bit far from the cabin site but at least we know that there is water available should the other springs decide to crap out.

Friday:

I put the roof on the fridge box in the morning.
Bob and I sat around and visited until around noon when he left for home. After Bob left I had lunch, packed up the jeep, swept out the cabin and headed home.

Got home around 5:00

A little after 6 PM Patti and I picked up Dina and headed to Harvey’s football game in Petaluma. Harv’s team won 33-0.

Had a great time and got stuff accomplished.

Patti and I are going back up to the cabin on Tuesday and will stay until  Saturday.
Dave and Joanne are also coming up.

08-25-13

Things have been kind of slow lately.

We got the RV put away.
The jeep transfer case leak has been repaired I think.

I dug out one of the Camilla trees.

It actually came out easier than I had expected.

I think leaving the tree long helped by giving me more leverage so it was not bad pulling it out of the ground. The fact that it didn’t have a tap root also helped. The next one will be a little tougher as I cut it closer to the ground.

The next couple of days I will be getting stuff together to go back to the cabin on Tuesday.

08-22-13

Hey! We’re back!

Patti and I just spent four days at the cabin.

Friday;

We met up with our friends from “Q” Cheryl and Dennis at the Raley’s parking lot in Windsor.
After standing around for a while B.S-ing we headed for the cabin.
We stopped at the Boonville Market/Deli, got some sandwiches to go and headed into the mountains for the cabin.

We got there around 11:30 and sat around talking and eating our sandwiches until about 2:00 when they had to leave because they were on their way to Myers Flat to visit with Becky and Dennis.

After Cheryl and Dennis left we unloaded the car and moved into the cabin. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying being there.

Saturday:

Woke up to fog on Saturday the weather stayed cool until about 10:00 then warmed up considerably.

I removed the window from the front of the cabin so I could put hinges on the top. I took the window to the Dining Hall/Shop to work on it as there are plenty of tables and flat surfaces to work on there.

Got the hinges on and Patti helped me install the window.

 

Now the window will open all the way and hangs by a hook from the porch rafters.

Sunday;

Around 11:00 we went to the grove and scrounged around for fallen redwood branches. I was looking for something with character for the stair rails.

By the time we got back to the cabin it was too hot to work so we just goofed off for the rest of the day. 

Monday;

Worked on hand rails for step

until it got too hot and we went to the creek. 

Tuesday;

Did some more work on steps, until around noon.

Finished one side of the stair rail and almost finished the other side

but it got to hot to work so we put all the tools away, packed up and went back home to Santa Rosa. 

Wednesday;

In the morning we went to 4wheel Parts and dropped off the jeep so they can fix the transfer case leak.
We had to get a smog check done on the RV so while I was at 4wheel parts, Patti made an appointment to get the RV smogged.
From 4wheel parts we went to Marlo’s RV repair, got the RV and drove it about a block to the smog check place where we left it and headed home.

The rest of the day was spent puttering.
I fixed the water leak in the back yard irrigation system. 
After that was done we continued cutting up the Camilla’s. We filled up the black barrel again so we had to quit.
The only thing left to do on the Camilla’s is to dig them out. 

We picked up the RV from the smog place in the afternoon and will put it into storage today.

We had a good time at the cabin. I can’t wait until I can go back.

Patti here:

Yesterday as I was checking Facebook, I noticed  my nephew, Anthony, made a comment about being on his way to Santa Rosa. I commented about calling me and we would get together and he did. After I got off the phone with Anthony, I called Dina, to see if she wanted to go with me to visit him; she said yes.

So after dinner, I picked up Dina and headed to Airport Blvd.

I think it has been about 5 years since I last saw him.   Anthony drives truck and lives in Gresham, Oregon,  he’s on the road a lot.

We had a great visit but way to short. 
Anthony is now on his way to Texas.

08-16-13

We have just been puttering around the place for the last couple of days.
Mostly processing peaches. We have made pies, turnovers and preserves. Yesterday we stripped the tree and froze some bags of sliced peaches.
Our friends Jerry and Loraine stopped by. We gave them a bag of peaches. Loraine gave us a loaf of Banana bread.

We are going to the cabin this morning.
Our friends from Quartzsite, Cheryl and Dennis are going to join us for lunch up there. We will meet them in Windsor and they will follow us to the cabin. From the cabin they are going to Myers Flat to visit with Becky and Dennis.

We are staying at the cabin and will be back in town on Tuesday. 

08-13-13

Okay It’s been a couple of days since the last post.

We haven’t been doing much.
I baked a couple of peach pies

and some turnovers.

I will be canning peach preserves today.

The box that holds the motorcycle battery that is used to run the XM radio when I am at the cabin was falling apart so I made a new one.
I used some cardboard form another box and hot glued it together.

 

I coated it with epoxy resin to make it stiffer,

then installed a 12 V lighter socket and a on off switch.

Now I have a power supply in one box for the XM radio.

 

Yesterday Patti and my sister Mary went out to lunch and to do some shopping. My brother-in-law Tom and I stayed home and solved the worlds problems while the women went out and helped the local economy.

08-11-13

Yesterday we went to OSH and got a few canning supplies so we can do some thing with all these peaches. I figured I would put up some peach preserves. I am also planning on making a peach pie and maybe a cobbler or two.

My youngest daughter Felice came by and picked a bag of peaches. we spent some time visiting with her. She is doing well and looks great.

We cleaned up our mess from the Camilla tree removal project. Our yard waste can is full so we will have to wait until Wednesday to finish. That is when the garbage is picked up.

We will be just puttering today.

08-10-13

NOTE! for those who are interested.
I got back the results from the last blood test.
I am now free of the HEP-C virus.
The cure worked!  

 

We took Plan “B” in to Marlo’s RV repair to have a new dome put on over the shower. The one that is on there is cracked and leaking.
I don’t know when we will get it back.

Later I started replacing the clock motor in the clock that is in the shop. As it turns out the hands for the clock don’t fit the new motor. 
I have extra hands at the cabin. I guess I will have to wait until I can get back to the cabin to retrieve them.

In the late afternoon we started cutting a couple of Camellias down in the backyard.

Patti has never liked these plants and now there is a Loquat tree coming up behind the Camilla.

Now we have a good excuse to take them out.
The fruit of the Loquat is delicious.
The flowers from the Camilla make a mess.
Good decision.

The peach tree is full of fruit.

 

So much so that some of the branches have broken.
We are eating peach everything.

08-09-13

Spent four days at the cabin.

Sunday;

Arrived at the cabin around noon-ish.
Got moved in.

  
I started unloading some stuff from the van so I can use it tomorrow to get the roof tin in Ukiah .

After that it was getting kind of hot so I hung out in the shade.

I decided this would be a good chance to fix the clock.

As you may remember the last trip to the cabin the clock died. I only had two AA batteries I tried each one in the clock and the clock wouldn’t run. I decided that the clock motor was dead. I bought one while I was home and figured today was a good time to change it out. I swapped out the motors and put a battery in. Still the clock doesn’t work. I tried another battery with the same result. WTF!
I took a battery out of a small camping lantern that I have and tried that. It worked!  
I guess the two batteries that I had were dead.
I will have to get some batteries when I go to Ukiah for the tin.

After fixing the clock

I puttered around the place and installed another branch in the porch rail.

Monday;

I finished unloading the van. Boy there was sure a lot of stuff in the van.

I left for Ukiah around 11:00 stopped at Friedman Bros HDW for the roofing tin and a piece of gutter.
Went next door to Walmart and bought some AA batteries.
Got gas for the van and headed back to Camp.

Arrived at the cabin around 1:30

It was time to work on the old ladder that I made when I built the dining hall several years ago.
You can see the ladder lying on the ground in the background of the previous picture. 
I will need to use it when I put the screws in the last piece of tin.
I putt an extra screw at each end of the treads and replaced a bad tread.
Now the ladder is as good as new.

I unloaded the tin from the van,

then measured and cut the first piece and slid it into place.

 
When I had just started this project, a couple of weeks ago, I was looking through some cans in search of nails, etc. I came across a couple of bags of roofing screws. At the time I thought “Good I won’t have to buy any roof screws”
I looked every where I could think of today and couldn’t find the screws.
After about an hour of searching I gave up and just decided that I would have to go to Boonville and get some screws tomorrow morning.

I took the rest of the day off.

Tuesday;

This morning it was cold enough to start a fire in the wood stove.

The fog didn’t burn off until around 11;00.

I did some last minute stuff to get the roof ready for tin. Ie. trimmed rafters, added some more screws to the structure in strategic places and added another branch to the rail.
After lunch I went to Boonville for screws.
As I was about to pay for the screws I realized that I had left my wallet in the cabin.
I drove back about eight miles to cabin to get the wallet.
On the way home I stopped to check out an old Manzanita tree that had fallen near the road.
It had some interesting branches on it so when I got home I put the chain saw in the back of the jeep.
I ate lunch, took a little break and went back to town to get the screws.
This time I was successful.
On the way home I stopped and cut some branches off the Manzanita.

When I got to the cabin I was not in the mood to put up the tin so I decided to play with the Manzanita branches and see what kind of decoration I could make.
At first I was not to thrilled by the way it came out but the more I look at it the better I like it.

Had a fire in the stove again tonight.

Wednesday;

Started putting up the tin early this morning . It went better than I thought it would, although it wore me out running up and down ladders all morning.

Measuring for the cutout.

More measuring.

Cutting the tin.

Sliding in the last piece.

 

I finished the roof about ten minutes before Joanne and Dave showed up.

 

Good timing  :o) I can take the rest of the day off.

Thursday;

Dave helped me put the gutter over the steps.

 

The only things to do for the cabin to be completely done now is to put the hand rails on the steps and hinge the front window.

I Left the cabin around 4:00.
Had a great four days and got a lot accomplished.

08-04-13

I’m heading up to the cabin today (Sunday).
I won’t be home until Thursday so The next post will be ether Thursday or Friday.

All we did yesterday was go shopping for food and a few items that I will need up at the cabin.
I loaded a few tools, Batteries, chargers etc. and I tied my 6 foot ladder to the top of the role bare of the jeep.I just have to load the cloths and food now and I will be ready to go.
It is kind of cold and fogy this morning.
The top and doors are off the jeep so I am not in a big hurry. I’m waiting for the sun to burn through.
I’ll give it an other hour.

Talk to you next week.

08-04-13

I’m heading up to the cabin today (Sunday).
I won’t be home until Thursday so The next post will be ether Thursday or Friday.

All we did yesterday was go shopping for food and a few items that I will need up at the cabin.
I loaded a few tools, Batteries, chargers etc. and I tied my 6 foot ladder to the top of the role bare of the jeep.I just have to load the cloths and food now and I will be ready to go.
It is kind of cold and fogy this morning.
The top and doors are off the jeep so I am not in a big hurry. I’m waiting for the sun to burn through.
I’ll give it an other hour.

Talk to you next week.

08-03-13

I took the top and doors of the jeep yesterday morning.

I had to remove the part of the role bar that connects with the windshield. 
The bracket that connects the bar to the windshield was cracked and the thing rattled like mad. I welded it up and was just finishing squirting some paint on it when my niece Joanne and husband Dave stopped by for a visit.
About an hour later my friend Bob stopped by so we all just spent the rest of the day visiting.

That was the end of the work for the day. 

After every one went home I reinstalled the repaired role bare section.

I never got to 4Wheel Parts.

I am going to the cabin on Sunday and coming back home on Thursday. I have to take the RV in to the shop Friday morning.

I will try to get to 4Wheel Parts after I drop off the RV.

We had a good visit and I still got some things done.

08-02-13

I went to Marlo’s RV repair yesterday to make an appointment to get the skylight over the bathroom replaced. I will take it in on Friday August 9th.

When I got home I started on the headlight repair on the jeep.
I replaced the dimmer switch but as it turned out that wasn’t the problem. It ended up being a bad connection on the back of the head light switch. I messed with that for a while and now it seams to be working fine. We will see if after driving on some rough roads the lights still work.

I am going to go to the 4wheel parts place today to talk to them about fixing the seal in the transfer case. I am hoping to get them to fix it for free since the problem started as a result of them installing the slip shaft eliminator kit last fall.

I am going to try and get up to the cabin for a few days next week. Maybe I will be able to get the porch roof finished.

 

08-01-13 and Patti’s trip to Oregon

Yesterday morning, I sanded the patch on the bathtub in the RV. It looks good. I hope it lasts. Only time will tell.

The new dryer was delivered around noon and the old one is gone.

After the fog burned off I decided to to wash the motor home. I was going to calk the the plastic dome over the shower but found that it had a lot of cracks in it.
Today I am going to Marlo’s RV repair to see if they can replace the dome.

_________________________________________

Patti’s trip to Oregon.

Hi, this is Patti.

On the 21st of July, my daughter, Dina, and her son (our grandson), Harvey and I

drove to Redmond, Oregon.

We left Santa Rosa at 5:25 AM and arrived at Samantha’s apartment in Redmond at 3:10 PM the same day.

The main reason for this trip was to get all three cousins, Samantha, Harvey and Johnathen, together since they hadn’t seen each other in 4 years. Samantha is our granddaughter who lives in Redmond along with her mother, my oldest daughter, Becki. Johnathen is Samantha’s brother, Becki’s son and our grandson who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska with his dad.

We spent a lot of time visiting and taking pictures which the boys disliked. I was told “it’s their age”.

Harvey and Auntie Becki.

 

Johnathen and Auntie Dina.

Samantha and Auntie Dina.

Dina and Becki.

The whole family minus Marty.

While we were in Redmond, we celebrated Dina’s 40th birthday.

 

Dina, Harv and I left the next morning for Glendale, Oregon to visit with my sister, Kathi (Carol),  brother-in-law, Bob, their daughter, Anna-lee and her son, Lucas.

Kathi and Bob.

 

Dina and Anna-lee.

 

Lucas and Dina.

Unfortunately Dina, Harv and I had to leave for home the next morning. We left Glendale on Thursday morning around 7:30 and arrived back in Santa Rosa around 5 PM. It was a wonderful trip but just to damn short.

As you have more than likely heard in the news that Glendale is on fire. Fortunately Kathi and Bob live about 6 miles from the fire. They are ready to leave if necessary. Keep your fingers crossed!