I have had some computer problems since
the last post.I am still trying to get everything
back to where it was before the crash.
I am using a new computer and getting used
to windows 8 so it will take a while.
On Sunday, we were in the process of scrubbing
down the kitchen when we got a call from Suzanne
and Roy saying that they will be in Santa Rosa on Thursday (today).
We are excited to see them as we had such a
good time visiting them in Canada.
It rained off and on for most of Saturday.
In the afternoon I took a ride over to Bob’s to let him set up my new
computer.
I usually screw up that operation.
I don’t have any pictures from yesterday but the last picture I took at
the cabin last week was from my porch. I was sitting just inside the
door after sweeping out the cabin when I noticed, for the umpteenth
time, the face on this redwood tree. This time I decided to take a
picture.
When I see this face I think …. A young Ent ?
Okay that’s all I have today.
We weren’t real active yesterday.
I put a new handle on the Polauski.
Around 3:30 Joanne and Dave came by. We visited for a while and then went
out to dinner at a local diner.
After dinner we went to the Santa Rosa high school football field to
watch the game.
It was senior night and the last home game for the senior football players.
They introduced the seniors and the parent of the senior was invited onto
the field to receive a rose from their student.
Harvey’s half-sister Angelica (jelly) bought Harvey his letterman jacket
and gave it to him at the game.
Unfortunately Santa Rosa HS lost the game.
Okay that is it for yesterday.
A couple years ago I bought a new top for the jeep complete with
new hardware from “Bestop”.
Fortunately I kept the old hardware because one of the important
parts on the new one broke. It is a piece of tubing that connects the
first bow of the top to the windshield frame.
Below is the factory part (unbroken).
Here is where it broke.
The old hardware had also broken years ago in the same place and my
son-in-law, Morgan had replaced the broken tubing with a 1/8”X1”
flat bar. It worked but I thought I could make it stronger
with a piece of square tubing. It worked quite well until I got the new top
and replaced everything.
When the new hardware broke I just replaced it with the old hardware.
Unfortunately the old hardware has developed some other issues.
I decided to take some of the good parts of both sets of hardware
and make one good set. I hope :o)
It didn’t take much to change the parts. I just had to clamp the bow down
and cut the old broken piece off.
and replace it with the old modified part.
Of course I had to do the same thing on both sides.
Well, It wasn’t a big project but it needed to be done.
Ronda and her husband Tom came by around 4:00 and I gave them our
tipi.
I kind of hated to get rid of it but I have to be honest; I'd probably never
erect it again anyway.
I left Santa Rosa around 9:00, stopped for gas and bread, then got on Highway
101.
I Stopped in Boonville to get some wine.
Got to the cabin around 10:30 unloaded the batteries and hooked the frig up
first thing.
Once everything was in the cabin, I took the legs off the kitchen table
and replaced them with the pedestal.
After lunch I hiked up to the Bear Spring; not much water.
The tank for the Big Fern Spring has slipped out of place. I couldn’t budge it
so I’ll wait for Bob to come up tomorrow so we can rearrange the tank pad.
Bob showed up around 9:00pm and we shot the bull until 11:00 then Bob
wandered off to his van and I stumbled off to my bunk.
Tuesday:
Woke up to a cold foggy morning, laid around in my bunk until after 8:00.
Got up, took care of my morning routine and was sitting in front of the
wood stove having my third cup of cocoa when Bob came stumbling up
the stairs with his arms full of dinner fixings, coffee maker and coffee etc;
I held the door for him.
We sat around until 11:00 coffee-ing up then we decided to go up to the
spring tank to get it settled.
While Bob was getting his stuff together I decided to clean up the scrap
white wood that was laying around where I was making the benches.
I raked it up and put it on the fruit trees for mulch.
We threw some tools in the van and drove up the road to the tank.
The tank had a lot of water in it so while Bob did some digging on the
pad, I pulled the pipe off the tank outlet so the tank would drain.
We took a break while the tank was draining.
Once we got most of the water out, Bob dug a flat to set the tank on.
We got the tank in place and hooked up. Now it should stay put.
We went up the road to the Bear Spring.
On the way back from the Bear Spring we stopped to do some work on a
new trail.
We worked on the trail all the way up to where we are going to tap a
new spring in the rocks just to the left side of the gully.
In the process of removing a couple of rocks out of the seep, Bob broke
the handle of the Polauski so the spring will be known as
“Broken Handle Spring”
Late in the afternoon we quit and got back to the cabin by 4:30.
Had a steak dinner around 7:00.
This is interesting; While we were taking a break I noticed this large vine
climbing a Nutmeg tree nearby. On investigation we discovered that the
vine was an ancient Poison Oak.
In my many years of running around in the woods of California I have never
seen a Poison Oak this large.
Wednesday:
Rained all night. Morning is foggy, drippy and cool. Got up regular time,
took care of my morning ablutions.
I stirred up the coals in the stove and added a couple of chunks of
firewood. I opened the damper and the air intake and let the stove take
care of starting the fire.
Once that was done I fixed myself a breakfast of Oatmeal, dried cherries,
raisins and a banana; washed down with a cup of hot cocoa with a
little instant coffee added for the kick.
By then the stove was huffing and puffing so I opened the door and sat
in front of the open stove door sipping my mocha and enjoying the morning.
Around 10:00 Bob came by on his way to the loo.
Presently he returned and made a pot of coffee. We sat around drinking
coffee for a while. Then around 11:00 we decided to get to work.
First we had to get the tools and spring parts together. Bob made a
screen to cover the tap.
Today, we tapped Broken Handle Spring.
It turned out to be a fairly easy tap as the seep was on the side of the gully
out of the main drainage and only required that Bob remove a couple of rocks
and set the tap in.
Running the outlet pipe took a bit of rock rearrangement to hopefully keep the
pipe in place during big storms which is the only time any appreciable amount
of water will come down the gully.
While Bob worked on the spring I did some trail work. Mostly so I could get out
of where we were without falling on my butt.
We finished everything up and headed for the the cabin. We got there around
3:30.
Bob went off to his van for a well deserved rest.
I had an Italian sandwich, a glass of wine and am presently writing in this blog.
I think I will go do a couple of chores to get set up for the party this weekend.
I need to move the barbeque out and set up a stove.
Thursday:
Got up around 8:00 had breakfast. Bob came into the cabin around 9:30.
Patti drove up around 10:30.
While we were visiting the Palliated Woodpecker came by for a drink
from our little fountain.
We visited for a couple hours then Bob and I went up to the new springs
to see what the flow is. We decided to test all the springs we have tapped
to see how much water we are getting.
Here are the results;
The Cabin Spring is giving us about one cup of water in 45 seconds.
The Big Fern Spring is producing one cup in 38 seconds.
The Broken Handle Spring is putting out one cup in 34 seconds.
Bob did some math and says that we are getting about 1/10 of a gallon
per minute per spring or 3/10 gallon total.
While we were out we decided to lay out a new trail around the bowl
where the cabin sits.
Bob Left for home around 2:30.
Patti and I took a bench down the road that goes to the shooting range.
We set the bench about half way down the hill.
We had Picante Chicken and rice for dinner. We played cards until bedtime.
Friday:
Got up around 7:30. Patti got up while I was eating breakfast.
She left to go home so that she could go to Harvey’s football
game.
I was pretty tired from all the work that Bob and I did all week
but after sitting around for a while I decided to go up and work on
the new trail a little. I ended up grooming the trail all the way to
where it crosses the gully,
which is most of the trail.
By the time I was finished with the trail I was pooped and headed
back to the cabin for some lunch.
Josie was first to arrive around 5:00
Joanne, Dave, Darlene and Ronda showed up around 7:30.
We sat around bs-ing until 10:00
Saturday:
People started arriving around 10:00. Connie, Bruce, Chuck, Rod, Donna,
Peter, Mary, Tom, Dina, Patti.
Here is Connie trolling for Eagles.
Dave, Bruce and I took a walk on the new trail.
The guy’s went to shoot for a couple hours and the ladies hung
around camp setting up the tables,
decorated the dining hall and gossiped.
Bruce brought up his electric bird thrower so we set it up
and shot clays for a couple of hours.
We got back to the dining hall and I started burning burgers and dogs.
Once the burgers and dogs were done we lined up to get some food.
There was plenty to go around.
After we were done eating we sat around in a big circle talking.
The outside temperature was falling so I lit the campfire. It is amazing to
me that everyone remained seated until I came back and set my chair near
the fire.
Then I guess everyone realized that there was a campfire going so they
moved their chairs around the fire.
I hung around the fire until after 10:00 then went to bed. I don’t know how
late the rest stayed up.
Sunday:
We sat around camp eating leftovers and visiting all day. I took Peter up
the road to show him the springs and the new trail.
Everyone left around 4:00; now it’s very, very quiet.
I’m staying until Tuesday.
Monday 2:
The sound of the rain on the tin roof of the cabin and my bladder
woke me around 5:00. I took care of my bladder but there was
nothing I could do about the rain on the tin roof so I crawled back
under the covers on my cot and dozed until around 7:30 when the
other call of nature forced me out of bed once more. I quickly put
on my boots grabbed my towel and headed out into the rain as fast
as an old man can shuffle to the bath house/toilet down the hill.
Skin is waterproof.
After a refreshing shower I walked back through the rain to the cabin.
Ahhh! Another beautiful morning in Paradise.
After breakfast I just puttered around the cabin. I was pooped from the
busy week and the fun party. I plan to do little today.
The rain continued until around 10:00 then the clouds began breaking
up. By 11:30 I had decided that if it was still clear after lunch I would go
do a little more work on the new trail.
As I was finishing my sandwich the rain started again but only lasted
for about an hour. Once the rain stopped I got in the van and drove to
the trailhead. I couldn’t decided if I wanted to work on the trail or cut up
a tree that was across the trail for firewood.
I decided to work on the tree.
I have noticed lately that I can’t operate the chain saw for very long before
it starts causing me a lot of back pain. With that In mind I cut for a little while
and when my back started hurting, I then took a break.
After resting for a few minutes I went back to work. When I started the saw
it ran for a few seconds and quit. Turns out it had run out of gas.
Okay, back to plan “A”. I didn’t have any gas in the van so I put the saw
away and got out my rake and small pick. I worked my way up the trail to
where it splits.
One fork going left to “No Good” and “Broken Handle” springs. The other
fork goes to the trail we want to open up around the bowl.
Lets call this trail the “High Loop” trail.
I had already worked that trail across the gully so I cleaned up the trail to
the left.
After cleaning that trail I crossed the gully and did a little more work on the
High Loop trail.
By the time I got to where I decided to stop, I was exhausted, so after a
break I headed back to the van. While I was driving down the hill to the
cabin I noticed this beautiful mushroom alongside the road.
This mushroom is an edible variety of the Amanita family. Most of the other
Amanita Mushrooms are poisonous.
Note:
Unless you know absolutely what you are doing “never” eat any wild mushrooms.
Tuesday:
Woke to a beautiful sunny day. I sat around the cabin until noon.
After lunch I got to work. I split some wood and stacked a bunch in the cabin.
Then I began the task of moving out and cleaning the cabin for the next time.
By around 2:00 I was ready to leave and headed for home.
It was another wonderful week+ at the cabin.
The above picture is of my old “Canvas Cabin” set up on the sight of the new cabin.
Yesterday we did some house work in the morning and gathered stuff to take to
the cabin on Monday.
Joanne and Dave came over around 6;00 and we discussed plans for the
upcoming “Fall Gathering” at the cabin next weekend.
Around 7:00 We went to dinner at El Charro Mexican restaurant. The food
was very good as usual.
I am heading up to the cabin tomorrow and will be there for a week so
no blog for a while.
I got a call Thursday from from Matt. He and Mike needed some more
money for materials for the paint job on the jeep. Patti and I went over
to Mike’s to give them some money and check out the progress.
The jeep is looking pretty good but I didn’t take any pictures. I’m waiting
until it is finished then I’ll show you what it looks like.
Yesterday, I finished the repair on the auger. First I sanded the extra
epoxy off the handle then I unclamped the auger from the vice.
I had to figure out how long the cutlery screws were so I used an outside
caliper to measure them.
I transferred that measurement to a spot on the auger handle that was a little
wider than the screws were long so I could recess them.
Once I got the spots marked it was time to drill the holes so I clamped the
handle in the drill press vice. Selected a drill bit that was the same size as the
shaft of the screws.
I drilled through the handle with the small drill and then used a larger drill to
counter sink the screws. I drilled the large holes a bit too deep so I mixed up some
JB Weld to fill in the gaps. I inserted the screws. Now once the epoxy sets the
handle should stay fixed.
My next project was to sand and stain the pedestal for the table in the cabin,
I sanded the pedestal with some course sand paper just to get the old finish off.
Then I looked around in my paint locker for some dark wood stain. All I could find
was some dark brown leather dye. Leather dye? Wood stain? What’s the
difference? This particular dye is alcohol based so it dries almost instantly. I put
some dye on a rag and spread it all over the pedestal. It came out a little more
red than I wanted but it will work under the table.
I wanted something to protect the stain and found some “semi gloss” clear
polyurethane which I painted the pedestal with. It came out pretty good.
Last evening we went to a Santa Rosa HS football game. Harvey got to play but
they lost anyway.
Okay that’s it for now.
