Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Four Days at the Cabin.


Thursday, 05/24.

The weather was cloudy and damp when  Patti and I left for the cabin around 10:00 in the morning. We stopped at Joanne and Dave’s on the way up to get the portable shower so we could hook it up.

The shower is basically a small on demand water heater that runs on propane gas. We just hang it on a wall in the shower room and hook the hoses up. It is a very simple unit.

We got to the cabin around 1:00 and since it was clean we could move right in moved right in.

IMG_3933

The Shower.

After lunch I decided to set up the shower.
Nothing to it, right? Just hang it on the wall and hook up the hoses, right?
I hooked it all up, turned on the water and water sprayed every where.
The water inlet leaked, the connection to the shower head leaked and the worst one was the drain valve would not shut off.
I messed around with the shower for a while but couldn’t get the drain valve to stop leaking.
I found an o ring that allowed me to fix the leaking water inlet.
I tried to find a washer for the shower head hose. I found one that was close but not good enough to stop the leak in that connection.

In the end I gave up and we didn’t have an operating shower for the four days.

The weather was wet and cold all day so we spent most of the day just sitting in the cabin and enjoying the fire in the stove.

Fix the Fridge.

I have an old RV propane refrigerator at the cabin and every time I come up I have to remove the back panel and clean out the rust that has fallen onto the burner. This time was no exception.
Now it is just routine.

Friday, 05/25.

Weather is still wet. Some rain overnight. We woke up to clouds and drizzle this morning outside temps in low 50’s. Nice and warm in the cabin.

Front window.

After breakfast I decided to work on the front window of the cabin.
The clear plastic film that I used instead of glass had come unstapled at the bottom and I was afraid that mice could crawl under the plastic and get into the cabin.
It was a simple repair. I just had to remove the bottom trim piece that covers the plastic and staples and restaple the plastic and replace the trim.
Surprisingly it all went off with out a hitch.

Water Feature.

When we arrived at the cabin Thursday we noticed that the Water Feature wasn’t running.
The Water Feature is the over flow from a small spring up the hill above the cabin. I piped the overflow down in some plastic pipe and have it dripping from a large stump on the hill. If the water is running I know that the tank is full.

IMG_3949
Occasionally the pipes get separated by some animal stepping on it or chewing the plastic pipe.

Wild Iris.

The drizzle let up for a while so I decided to check out what was wrong with the Water Feature. As I started up the hill I noticed these wild Iris’s. Most of the wild Iris we see up here are of the blue variety.
These were a very delicate yellow…

IMG_3938

with purple veins.

IMG_3941

I continued my walk up to the spring. What I found was that the connection to the inlet of the tank had been pulled out so no water was going in the tank.
After reconnecting the connection, I walked through the woods, across the hill to come down by a different path. On the way down the hill while still in the woods I noticed this Blue Iris and was struck by it’s beauty.

IMG_3942

Lawn Mower.

By lunch time the drizzle had slowed and later in the afternoon I decided to see if the mower would start. I went over to the dining hall where the mower is kept and checked it out. It was covered in cobwebs so I cleaned that off and checked the gas. It looked like it had about half a tank.

So, lets see if it will start.
I pushed the little plunger on the side of the carburetor several times to charge the carb, pulled the rope twice and it started right up.

I decided that since I had the mower running I should do some mowing.
I mowed the section between the dining hall and the fire pit but by then, another cloud had come by and it was raining lightly. I put the mower under cover and went back to the cabin.

The rest of the day we enjoyed the warmth of the cabin.

Saturday, 05/26

I fixed us a breakfast of diced ham, scrambled eggs and refried sliced baked potato.

Now that we were fueled up we had work to do.

Mowing.

Patti decided that she would start the mowing so she set off to get the mower going.

Replace a Screen.

In the back gable of the cabin I have put in screen for ventilation. Unfortunately the screen that I used was made out of some kind of plastic. the mice have figured out that they can chew through the plastic screen.
Not a good situation.
I had replaced the right side screen a few years ago but now a mouse has discovered that it can get in the cabin by shewing through the left screen.
Today is the day to change that. I had all the supplies I needed for the job.

I had aluminum screen.
I had a supply of lumber stacked behind the dining hall.
I had screws and nails.
I brought every tool I thought would be useful for the job.
As it turned out I didn’t need many of the tools I brought.
The job went fairly smoothly. It didn’t go fast though and there was a lot of going up and down the ladder and a lot of breaks so it took a good couple of hours.

The screen in the upper left is the new one.

IMG_3945

By the time I was finished with the screen, Patti was tired of mowing.

She has done a good job.

IMG_3951

We spent the rest of the day relaxing.

The clouds moved away and the evening was very nice.

Sunday.

Once we got up and going we decided that today we would concentrate on mowing and weed whacking.

We started mowing around 11:00. Patti on the mower…

IMG_3966

and I on the weed whacker.

IMG_3954

About the time we were finishing, Peter drove up.
We had a nice visit with Peer for a couple of hours.

After Peter left we took the rest of the day off.

Monday, 05/27.

Around 10:00 Monday morning we decided that it was time to pack up and go home.

By 12:30 we were packed, the cabin was clean and we were ready to leave.

We got home around 2:00. It was a really nice relaxing four days.

Porch Dragons.

I noticed that we have a nice crop of porch dragons this spring.

IMG_3950

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Heading for the Cabin.


Slow Days

We haven’t been doing much since Patti’s party. Mostly just cleaning up the place.

We did play cards a few days ago with Joanne, Dave and Loraine.

Getting Ready for the Cabin.

The last few days we have been getting stuff together to spend the memorial day weekend at the cabin.

We are heading up today around 10:00 and won’t be home until Monday.

The plan was to do some mowing and weed whacking over the weekend but it might rain so we will have to see how that goes.

Maybe I’ll have some pictures and things to tell you about when we get home.

Okay, that is all I have for you today.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Patti’s Party, a Ride to the Cabin and a Ride to the Coast.


Saturday, 05/12.

Note:
The party pictures are from Joanne H, taken with her phone.

We got started early setting up for todays party.

The first guest to arrive was our friend Loraine.  She and Patti are very colorful today.

IMG_0843 

Even Bob showed up. He isn’t what you would call a party animal so we were surprised to see him.
He is seated by Jo Ann R. You can see top of Josie Q’s head.

IMG_0848

Food.

About 3:00 Dave started cooking burgers and dogs.

IMG_0850

We set out the salads.

IMG_0856

Once the food was cooked…

IMG_0860

we all dug in.

IMG_0859

Once the food was consumed, there was cake.

IMG_0876

Patti’s daughter’s, Dina and Becki and Becki’s boyfriend Dennis having cake.

IMG_0881

It was a fun Party and Patti was very happy.

A Ride to the Cabin.

Sunday, 05/13

Jo Ann and Dave wanted to see the cabin so around 9:00 Sunday morning we piled into Patti’s car and headed for the cabin.

Breakfast.

We stopped in Cloverdale at the Hamburger Ranch for breakfast.
Until now we didn’t even know that the place served breakfast.
The food was pretty good.

After breakfast we got onto Highway 128 and headed for Booneville.

When we got to Boonville we stopped at the Market to get some sandwiches to take to the cabin for our lunch.

Dead Mice.

When we got to the cabin everything was in pretty good shape.
I found two dead mice in the waste basket in the cabin.
They must have been the two mice (Mr. & Mrs. Mouse) that Matt saw when he was up here a couple weeks ago. There were no other signs of mice in the cabin.

Lunch.

We wandered around the compound for a while showing Jo and Dave the place.
Pretty soon it was time for lunch. We tried to eat outside but the Mosquito’s were pretty pesky so we ate in the cabin.

The Grove.

After  lunch we took Jo and Dave down to the Grove to show them the giant redwoods and the swimming hole.

Jo and Dave inspecting a giant Redwood at the grove.

IMGP3030

We hung out down there for a while enjoying the beauty of the place.

It was getting late so after a while we headed back up to the cabin. We were there for only a short time before we headed for home.

Home.

We got home around 5:30, had leftovers from the party for dinner and I retired around 10:00.

A Ride to the Coast.

Monday 05/14.

Jo Ann and Dave are leaving on Tuesday so we wanted to take them to the coast as living in Eastern Idaho, they don’t get to see the ocean very often.
The plan is to stop by Bob’s place, since it is on the way and head down the coast to Bodega Bay for a seafood lunch at the Spud Point Crab Company.

Breakfast.

We went to Hank’s Creekside CafĂ© again for breakfast.
It was good as usual.

After breakfast we headed for the coast.

Bob’s place.

We drove to Guerneville and stopped at Bob’s place. When we got there Bob was just finishing up painting on his new shed. I noticed from reading Bob’s blog that he was painting it hunter green.
As it turned out I had almost two quarts of hunter green paint that I just bought for the water heater project. I only used a small amount of the paint on the water heater stand and would probably not use any again so I decided to give it to Bob. He was very appreciative.

We checked out the garden and chicken enclosures he is building.
You can follow his project on his blog.
http://www.bobseyes.net/ 

After visiting for about an hour we said goodbye to Bob and headed for the coast.

IMGP3045

Jenner by The Sea.

We followed River Road west along the Russian River to US-1 where we turned north and drove through the village of Jenner. Just north of the town we stopped at a view turnout to enjoy the view of the river’s mouth and the Pacific Ocean.

Bodega Head.

After a few minutes looking at the view we headed south along the coast to Bodega Bay.
We drove around the north end of the bay to Bodega Head, a point of land that protects the bay and is the most western point of Sonoma county.

There is nothing but ocean from here to Japan.

IMGP3048

Spud Point Crab Company.

After enjoying the view from the head, we drove back down to the bay and stopped at the Spud Point Crab Company for some Clam Chowder. The chowder was good but I felt that the last time we ate here, the chowder was a bit better.

IMGP3057

Probably my faulty memory.

Once we were finished with the chowder we headed back to Highway 1 and continued our drive along the coast; we went through the town of Bodega Bay.  A few miles south of Bodega Bay we turned east on Highway 12.  A couple miles along Highway 12  we went through the village of Bodega.
In case you don’t know it; Bodega Bay and Bodega were the sight for the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”.

Home.

We continued east through Sebastopol and after a couple of stops to do some shopping we headed for home.

At home we visited for a while and then ordered Pizza.

Jo and Dave, Going Home.

Jo Ann and Dave are leaving this morning to go back to Idaho.
We have thoroughly enjoyed their visit and hate to see them go. We will see them later this summer, as we are going to Idaho in August.

Okay that was the last few days. It was fun.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Getting Ready to Party


The Place is Ready.

We have been working on getting the house and yard ready for company for a while. Now the place is ready for Patti’s Party.

Special Guests.

Our special guests, Jo Ann and Dave R from Idaho, showed up Friday around noon. It is great to see them again.
Joanne and Dave H came by to see them and we all went to Mary’s Pizza Shack for dinner. 

Party Day.

Okay, today is party day. People should be showing up around around noon.

it is only 6:56 am now so I will have to let you know how the party went tomorrow or the next day depending on how hard we party.

Okay, That’s it for now.

Monday, May 7, 2018

A Week Of Puttering


Cleaning.

For the last week we have been puttering around the place,
cleaning the house and the back yard in preparation for the Patti’s birthday party this weekend.

I still have a couple small piles of debris to pick up.

IMGP3028

Hanging Flowers.

We went to Home Depot and bought some hanging flower baskets. I hung these from the patio cover.

IMGP3027

IMGP3026

New Bed.

We needed to get a new bed for the spare room. We already had an antique double bed frame so we went to The Mattress Firm and bought a new mattress and box spring.
Now we have a proper guest room.

IMGP3029

Okay, That’s about it for now.