14-20 November 2011 - Waxing Traps, Hunting, Baby Sleepers...

Land trapping season opens December first and I had some things to do to get the traps ready.

Last year at the end of the season I boiled and dyed the traps but didn't get them waxed.  They're stored out of the weather so I wasn't too worried about them.  Now the season is almost upon us so I spent a day down at the shack waxing traps.  It's not difficult but it is time consuming.  My pot is big enough for two to four traps depending upon what size they are.  Each time I put the traps in they have to stay for abut 15 minutes to get up to temperature before I take them out.  The wax is on top of the water and coats the traps as I bring them up.  I then hang the waxed traps to cool off and put more in the water.  The wax protects the traps and make them function  better in the water or when it's cold and wet.

I've been out hunting several times this week but haven't seen anything except does and fawns.  It's bucks only this year so I'm still looking. This is looking over one of the clear-cuts from last year.  I'm also scouting out new trapping areas on this trip.

I needed to find the corner of the property and did.  There were about four bearing trees in one small area.  They surround the peg showing the corner marker.  The plate shows the township and section numbers along with the corner of the section the marker is in.

This was taken at the NE corner of our property looking to the SW.  The lumber company logged the section last year and is now burning the slash piles.  It was a bit smoky around here for a couple of days.  Sometimes the piles will smolder for weeks.

We buy oatmeal in 50 lb. sacks.  This one is almost empty so Susan will put what's left into a two-gallon bucket and we'll finish it off from the bucket.

The reason the bag is out is because she's making my favorite cookies ... no-bake chocolate/oatmeal cookies!

She made a double batch this time.  This is the first tray ...

She also made cinnamon rolls (no icing on them yet), hot-dog buns, hamburger buns and dinner rolls this week.

Somewhere during the week she found time to do some word puzzles beside the wood stove.

We finally got enough snow to begin melting it for water.  It takes a lot of snow to make a kettle full of water.

That's about fifteen gallons of snow you see there.  The kettle holds about four gallons of water.

We had some sweat pants I didn't like so Susan is cutting them up to make sleepers for Scott.

She used some of his clothes to mark the pattern in the sweat pants.

Then cuts them out and sews them up.  The seat pants were bought on clearance a couple of years ago for a dollar.  She's using a zipper and elastic that she salvaged from clothes going to the dump. When she's finished she'll have about fifty cents worth of materials in the sleeper.

The temperature has been kinda' low this week so the snow has been light and fluffy.  It comes off the solar panels easy enough but it's sure a cold job.  I have to use a ladder this year since I added the two panels to the top.

Scott weighs in at over 20 lbs and he's pretty easy to care for compared to a lot of one-year-olds but there are times he just needs to be held.  It's hard to do that and still get the work done so Susan uses a couple of scarves to make a cradle to support him while she works.  That way she can use both hands at times. 

Scott is really good at helping us take inventory of what's in the cabinets.  He takes everything out and when we put it back we find out what's stored there.

Now he's checking out the food stored under the couch.  We're making an effort to use up the store bought canned goods we have on hand.  Some of it is getting quite old.

8-13 November 2011 - Duck Lake, Solar Panels, Eggs, Bacon and Toast!

The weather has remained cloudy with snow flurries almost daily with temperatures between 25 and 35 for most of the week. Hopefully the snow will begin piling up soon.  Winter isn't much fun without snow to play in. 
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Susan's wringing diapers outside.  She washes them in a bucket in the house then uses the wringer to get the water out.  The gloves protect her hands from the bleach and detergent, and, to lesser extent, from the cold.  It's about 30 degrees (F) outside.

I set the solar panels to their winter position this week.  I had to drill out the lower adjustment holes because when I added the bracing during the summer I covered them up.  We set the angle different to compensate for the lower angle of the sun.  We're far enough north that the sun just skims the horizon during most of the winter. 

The panels in the winter position.  They also shed snow better when they're more upright.

I'm mostly finished with the wood cutting so I moved the trailer back to it's winter home near the shack.  Of course the tire was flat so I had to pump it back up.  The rim is rusted and pitted and won't seal around the bead.  I used gasket sealer last time hoping it would seal the bead but it didn't work.  I may have to get a tube for it if I can't find another rim.  I used the manual pump instead of the  12 volt pump or firing up the generator and running the hoses to use the big compressor.  It just needed enough air to move the trailer.

We drove to Duck Lake to look around and check out the State Forest campground.  The lake is already beginning to freeze over. 

The open water is the main channel which has enough current to keep the ice off ... at least for now!

Breakfast time!  We do most of our cooking on the wood stove in the winter.  We seldom have a big breakfast like this but we had lots of work planned for that day so we splurged with bacon, eggs and toast.  The bacon splashes grease all over which gives the stove a mottled appearance.  The eggs don't need as much heat for cooking so we placed that skillet on a trivet.  The toast is inside the foil. Folding the foil over the top keeps the toast flat.   

The next day's breakfast was pancakes.  The stove needs to be very hot for pancakes.  We turn the kettle's lid upside down and put our plates on top of it.  It's full of boiling water and keeps the plates hot.  As the pancakes come off the skillet we store then on the plates and put the lid over the top to keep them hot and moist.  It's a good, low-tech solution.  If we have company I put two griddles on the top and then I can really make pancakes.

The hot water kettle also provides a good way to heat leftovers without a microwave.  We put the leftovers in a deep bowl and let it float on top of the boiling water (put the lid back on the kettle).  It takes longer than a microwave but the food is hot after awhile and it isn't dried out like a microwave tends to do.

Susan made up a large batch of chicken soup.  We had some for dinner and she canned the rest.  We like having canned food that's ready to eat in case we have unexpected company.

This is probably the last official wood cutting trip for the year.  I've got some small stuff to cut down on the place yet but nothing of significance.

We cut this last load on a neighbor's land.  They requested that we pile and burn the slash which we did.  Since it was a cold day it was nice having a roaring fire nearby to warm cold hands.  The base of this pile is about eight feet in diameter.

There were three trees down here.  One small, one medium and one large.  I pulled and burned the small stump so the two shown here are for the medium and large trees.  The large one was a fir tree that was still green.  It was a good thing we had a hot fire going or the slash wouldn't have burned so well.  The fire is off to the right outside the photo.

This is most of the seasoned wood ...

We stacked the green wood with the rest of the pile for next year's firewood.  There's almost three cords in this stack.

Susan is finishing up raking leaves.  She had several piles scattered about.  I wasn't thinking and let the chickens out then it was a race to get the piles loaded into a wheel barrow and dumped in the garden before the chickens re-scattered the leaves.

Scott having his first piano lesson?  Nah, he just likes to make noise and sit on grandma's lap.

2-7 November 2011 - Winter is here ...

Winter has finally arrived.  The highs are just above freezing and the lows in the 20's at night.  The ground is frozen and the leaves have fallen from the trees.  The meager amount of snow we have is sticking now.  We've been through the time change and the shorter daylight hours are making it difficult for the solar panels to keep the battery bank fully charged so we're in energy conservation mode.  All of that together means winter is here to stay ... I think!

I believe it was the last post in which we caught one pack rat and suspected another one was still around.  Well, we caught the other one the next day.  He got in the trap early in the morning.  I was up around 3:30 am and the trap was empty. Susan was up at 4:30 and saw the pack rat in it.  (We both went back to bed!)  Susan set the trap off the porch because the pack rat was messing all over the porch.  I didn't know she'd moved the trap when I let the dog out.  The dog found the trap with the pack rat in it and proceeded to dismantle the trap.  Fortunately we stopped her before she finished but I'll still have to get some retainer clips to put things back together.  I dispatched the pack rat with a 22 rim fire shot shell and gave it to the dog.  We think this is the last one hanging around. 

While hunting I found where a couple of green trees had blown over during the fall so I took the truck back up and cut them up for firewood.  They still have a high moisture content so I'll have to stack them in the pile for next year.  The truck holds six rows of wood and I have three-and-a-half rows.  Even at half a load the truck is still sitting pretty low because of the weight of the wood. 

This is my stack of wood to burn next year.  It was all green wood from trees that had blown down and it will need a few months to dry out.  If I need it next spring it'll be ready by then but I shouldn't need it.  The wood shed is almost full and we're already into the second week of November.  November, December and January are the real cold months then it usually begins to warm up again so our wood use goes down. 

Scott loves it outside but he's bad about kicking off his shoes and socks so Susan pinned his shoes to the bottom of his snow suit.

Susan and Scott raking leaves in the yard.  Some of them are frozen to the ground already.  She hit the thickest places and I loaded the piles of leaves into the wheel barrow and dumped them in a pile in the garden.

Sometimes if Susan wants to get things done she'll put Scott in the carrier and he'll ride around like a little emperor.  He loves it and is always anxious to see what she's doing.

We drove into Fortine on Sunday to meet with Tristan and his wife at the pool hall.  Scott had a lot of fun at his table while we took turns playing pool at the other table.  While we were in town we checked the mail and filled water jugs.

Bath time for Scott.  We bring the deep sink in and set it in front of the stove and let him have his fun. He throws so many toys in that there's hardly room for him.

Susan dumped all the rain water collection barrels this week.  She'd dumped all but one last week then set this one up again when we got rain early in the week.  Now the rain is finished and everything is frozen so she dumped the last two barrels and routed the drain spout away from the cabin.  I emptied out the water pumps a few weeks ago so we're ready for winter. 

Not being able to collect rain water puts us in a bit of a bind for water.  With Scott here and using/washing cloth diapers we're going through more water than we normally do.  Susan moved a 55 gallon barrel in the house to store water there but at the moment we're filling it slowly with water from our jugs.  Any time we go into town we dump whatever is left in the small jugs into the big barrel then refill the small ones in town.  We'll slowly fill the barrel this way.  It's just difficult to make the adjustment from having lots of rain water for washing people, clothes and dishes, etc. to having to be more conservative again.  It shouldn't be long before we have enough snow to melt then the water situation should ease up a bit.

In case you're wondering we have two seven gallon jugs and two five gallon jugs. 

We also have three or four one gallon bottles.  We try to get into Fortine once a week to get our mail and fill water jugs.  That's about 30 gallons of water per week for washing dishes, clothes, people and drinking/cooking.   We can get by on less than that if we have to.

We killed the goat today.  We'd originally planned on using him for a pack goat but when he was banded they missed the family jewels so we ended up with a foul smelling, bad tempered billy goat.  I finally got my revenge for all the times he's head butted me and the other troubles he caused.  Victor did the shooting.  I gave the lesson on field dressing him.

Victor has never killed an animal this size so I showed him how to field dress the goat and skin it.  I like skinning them as soon after killing as possible because the skin comes off easier.  The temperatures are ideal to let it hang for a day or so before cutting up the meat.  The meat shouldn't be frozen but if it's cold it's much easier to cut up than when it's warm and flabby.

Susan canned some salmon along with the mixed vegetables we'd bought at the last case lot sale awhile back.  The veggies and salmon have been in the freezer but we're about to shut it off for the winter so she needed to get them canned.  If you can veggies and meat in the same load you have to use the time and pressure required for meat to be sure everything is safe to store and eat.

Susan made homemade bread and buns yesterday so I had Texas Toast for breakfast using home-made bread and home-made apricot jam, and we had buffalo burgers with home-made buns for dinner today.  The buffalo meat is frozen so we're using it us as well.

27 Oct - 1 Nov, 2011 Trick-or-treat, Packrats, and Rug Rats

The nights and days are getting colder and there's a definite feel of winter in the air which kind of motivates us to get the outside things done ASAP!  On the cloudy days we try to get caught up on the indoor things as well.
 

We're trying to get a more rustic feel to our cabin so as the opportunity presents itself we make changes.  Susan used a couple of slabs to build a shelf in the living room.  This is one of the slabs left after we cut the timbers for Barbara and Victor's cabin.  Susan put it where we used to store our DVDs.  There's another one over a window where she'll put some of our books.

I gave Victor our old monster maul for splitting firewood.  What I never liked about it (besides it's weight) was the round handle which made it difficult to grip so that the head came down vertically.  We fixed that problem by welding a piece of 1/4 inch steel rod on the handle.  Now the handle has an oval shape so you can tell if the head is vertical by the feel of the handle.

We use cloth diapers most of the time at home for several reasons.  First, we don't like the smelly powders used in disposables.  Second is cost.  Third is we avoid disposable anythings.  They're a waste of resources.  They do present some challenges when you haul all of your water since they'll need laundering after use.  Susan typically uses a bucket and water and washes them in the shower or in front of the wood stove (depends on the temperature!).  We hang them inside to dry.  We still use disposables when away from home. 

These are diaper wipes.  The one on the right is new and those on the left have been used and washed for re-use.  Susan found out how well they wash out when a couple got in the laundry by accident.  They came out in such good shape that she does it on purpose now. 

It's the time of year for pack rat problems and we are not exempt.  We've had one that's avoided the live trap so I found an old rat trap and decided to put it to use.  Pack rats will carry them off if you don't anchor them down so I'm screwing this one down on a sawmill slab.  It's usually easier to drill one or two holes with the hand drill than start the generator or run extension cords from the house for the electric drill.  My cordless drill is in the cabin but I decided to not use it.  We're trying to keep our dependence on modern technology down and this is one of the ways we do so.

Almost finished.  The slab is heavy enough a pack rat can't carry it off but I put a wire on it as well.  I've seen those little buggers do some extraordinary things and I don't want one running off with a trap.  I tied the wire to an old 20 lb. propane bottle just in case!

I couldn't get the slab in where I wanted it because it was too thick so I used my hatchet to thin it down a bit.

One dead pack rat.  However I caught this one in the live trap.  The dog was trying to tear my trap apart to get to the pack rat so I tied her up.  After I dispatched the pack rat (one shot with a .22 shot shell) I gave it to her.

The rat trap on the slab didn't work.  It's been sprung several times but doesn't have enough grip and the rat frees itself.  Some people drive nails up through the wood to impale the pack rats but I can't do that with the cats around.  I just hope he has lots of bruises! 

We aren't sure this pack rat is the one that's been causing all the trouble.  Susan heard one on the roof last night and so we're thinking the one we caught was a new arrival.   I'm going to have to use some of my connibear traps I think.  We'll have to make sure the cat is inside when I do 'cause these will kill whatever they catch.

Susan harvesting mullein leaves.  She picked the plants and has them drying on the porch.  Now the leaves will be taken indoors for further processing.

In the winter we bring one of our water barrels inside.  We won't be getting any rain water so we'll melt snow and use it to fill the barrel.  We like having the extra on hand for baths and washing clothes.  ti takes awhile to fill a 55 gallon barrel with melted snow.

I decided to try modifying one of the old butcher knives I have on hand.  I marked this one off to be a skinning type blade.  It will be five inches long when I'm finished.  The original length was seven inches.

I used a dremel tool to cut the blade off then files and a stone to put the bevels on the blade.  Next I'll need to make a sheath.  I may modify the curve a bit more after using it.  We'll see.  It has good steel and takes a keen edge.

We're having difficulty finding a child carrier we like.  The new ones don't have frames on them.  Becky (our daughter) gave us this one but the bar used as a brace and foot rest was too high.  I drilled out the rivets holding it and re-installed it lower on the frame which seems to work better.  We're keeping our eyes on eBay to find one we like better but this will do for now.  Scott loves being outside and if he's going to be spending time here he'll have to get used to it!

Becky was down for a couple of days with her two (Hannah and Logan).  Those who read about our time in Nevada last spring will recognize these two!

Scott, being the typical American child has tons of toys to play with but the biggest hits are a metal waterproof matchbox/tube I put some steel BB's in for a rattle, an Altoid tin with nails in it for a rattle, and Susan's large can of canning jar rings. 

We took Scott trick-or-treating on Halloween night in Eureka.  Here he is with Uncle Tristan raking in some of the loot.  He's wearing a bee costume.  He didn't quite know what to do with the candy but his Uncle Tristan did.