Seven Days at the Cabin.

Wednesday:

I got to the cabin around 11:30.
Joanne and Dave were already there.

I got moved into the cabin after I swept out the detritus of the last peoples visit.

Some people just don’t understand the concept of leave it like you find it, or better.

I put out some rat poison and a couple of traps as we have been having some mouse problems.

The rest of the day, we hung out just taking it easy.

Thursday:

Thursday morning was cool so I got some stuff done early.

The Mouse Hole.

I checked out the bats on the cabin siding to be sure they were tight so that no mice can get through there. Then I checked all around the place to see if I could find where the mice were getting in.
I eventually found the spot. It was in a corner where I had stuffed  a piece of rope in the crack and was intending to calk it. Apparently I missed that one and the mice just pushed it in at the corner. I packed the rope back in place and calked over it to seal the whole crack tightly.

Fix the Fridge.

The propane Refrigerator wasn’t working properly so I pulled off the back and cleaned off the burner. I have to do this every time I start the fridge. I should just do it before I start it.

Replace the Towel Rack.

I had made a drying rack from a long branch that was suspended from the rafters. The branch was rough and would catch on material when the towel was pulled off. I replaced the limb with a piece of closet rod that I had stored in the dining hall.

HOT!!!.

The afternoon was very hot so we went down to the creek for a few hours.

It is supposed to be even hotter today (Friday).

Friday.

HOT!!!

The temperature got to 100° today.

In the morning we walked the cabin loop trail.

We didn’t do much the rest of the day, just shade hopped trying to stay cool and not succeeding.

Around 4:30, Kate (The daughter of one of our friends) showed up with her boyfriend. They decided to set up their camp on Matt’s deck. 

After dark the temp dropped to 98°.

Saturday:

Hot!!

As I am writing this on Saturday morning, It is 72° at 8:00am.
I think today is going to be hotter than yesterday.

It is hotter than yesterday. It’s to hot to do anything so I did nothing but try to keep cool.
The highest temp I saw on my thermometer was 108°. That was about 2:30. It was still around 90° at 10:00 (bed time).

Sunday:

Hot!!!

It was a little cooler today 102° at 2:00.
It is still too hot to do much.

Just hung around shade hopping, trying to stay cool.

Peter came by around 4:30. He said that he, Leon and his friends were going to camp at the grove.

Leon and his friends showed up around 9:30pm.

They will probably spend the day at the creek.

Monday:

Cooler.

It was a little cooler today, It only got to 94° by 2:00.

Project:

I actually worked on a project today.
I decided that I should make a bench.

It was late (almost noon) when I started.

I pulled the piece of redwood log (I had split last year) out of the wood pile.

The first thing I had to do was flatten the surface for the seat.
I did that with an old froe that I made several years ago.

Once I had the seat shaped the next thing to do was to smooth it off. For this I used a Draw Knife.

Next, it was time to make holes for the legs, using a 2 inch auger.

By the time I had the first hole drilled it was getting too hot to work on it so I hung it up for the day.

Tuesday:

After breakfast I went out to work on the bench I started yesterday.

I got all four holes drilled for the legs.

The log that is standing up in the foreground is what I will use for the legs.
I split out four large billets.

Then I used the draw knife to shape them.
Don’t expect them to be pretty.

I don’t do pretty. They will be thick and strong as they will sit in the weather for as long as they last. They are all redwood so that should be about 25 years.

I got all the legs shaped and pounded into the holes.

The next thing will be to cut the legs to length.

Wednesday:

Finish the Bench.

After Breakfast I went out and worked on the bench.

First, I cut the legs to length.

Once the legs were cut I loaded the bench in the van and took it up the road to the spring. I found a flat spot half way between two steep climbs and decided to put the bench there.

Going Home:

Once the bench was set, I went back to the cabin and started packing to go home. Around 2:00 I had the cabin cleaned and ready for the next visitor.
I just hope they will clean up after themselves. Unfortunately the people who leave the messes are the owner’s son and his friends. There isn’t much I can do to stop it but complain to Peter and that doesn’t seem to do much good.

Okay, that was my seven days at the cabin. It was a little to hot for my liking but at least I had a chance to be up there for a while.