Root Cellar update,
In 2011 we installed our root cellar. (See blog from Nov. 2011) It has now been 7 years on use and experience. We have never been sorry we built it !!!!
After years of experience we have learned to store fresh potatoes for a full calendar year (slated wooden crate lined with newspaper) and we have Carrots that are still fresh and good to eat raw after 10 months (stored in saw dust). We can keep Romain lettuce for about 4-5 months just by hanging it in "green Bags" from the ceiling.
Don't keep onions in the root cellar . Period
We store eggs for 3-4 months, cheese forever, milk way past expiration dates (month and more past)
Store bought Sugary canned goods don't hold well. For some reason all things citrus eat through the cans from the inside - out and leak after about 6 months and canned fruit of any kind (store bought) don't hold well. Home canned items of like kind in glass jars do good. Beer holds forever also.
We have our house water supply tank in the cellar and always have 39 deg water pumped to the faucet for a good cold drink year around.
We store many canned goods down there. We also sectioned off a place to keep all of our paint, caulk glue's etc so that it never freezes.
We keep the 2 vent pipes open Spring thru fall and close them off in the dead of winter just because things directly under the one pipe froze on year due to back draft. Only one shelf - one corner but don't need to vent it in the winter.
It is not insulated at all. It has an open wood slat floor. It is 4' down from the top. 8'x8'x8' box buried 12' deep to the bottom. It is wrapped on the exterior with bituthane rubber. The exterior is all treated plywood.
The only real mistakes I made. #1 It's not big enough for everything we have figured out to use it for. #2 I should have used ALL treated lumber. The Studs and Rafters are beginning to deteriorate due to the continuous moisture. I am going to have to replace it with-in another 5 years or so.
The Good News, When I replace it, it will be bigger. LOL
Friday, July 6, 2018
Saturday, May 31, 2014
What.....It's June Already?
Wow time flies when you are busy, busy, busy! Just looked at the date of the last blog and went WOW! March of course is always crazy busy with freighting for Roger, Iditarod and getting plants started for the garden.
Iditarod this year presented a few challenges. About ten days before volunteers were due to start arriving at Delia's which is where we lived for about 20 months and which is also the second checkpoint on the Iditarod dog sled race, the generator shed which supplied power to the entire site burned to the ground. We received a call about 10 pm from someone who had been going up river and spotted it. Anyway we had to round up a separate generator to use for each building. The people of Skwentna community were awesome in their offers of help. So that put some extra work on Roger to get that all set up but he pulled it off! Iditarod weekend itself was of course awesome! The "Darlings" and the "Sweeties" run the checkpoint like a well oiled machine. For the most part Roger and I get to hang out and visit and eat all the yummie food the "Sweetie's" spend all weekend cooking.
At the end of March, Craig who is our friend and also now both our "boss" put together a group of volunteers for a weekend at his cabin and to come spend a day putting the sheeting and roofing on Roger's workshop. There were a total of nine of them that came out and they did in a day what would have taken Roger and I a couple of weeks probably. I cannot tell you how much gratitude I have for all of them.
The rest of March, into April was busy for Roger with freighting and tours. I was busy answering phones and learning the "ins and outs" of a new job. I also went along to help on a couple of freigh runs and a tour. Oh as well as the daily chores of life in the bush. Want to stay warm, better bring in more wood, want bread, make it. And the list goes on and on. Some days I do have to say I miss some of the conveniences of living "on the grid" but life out here at the Phillips place isn't too bad overall. And things have gotten even better this year during breakup.
WE NOW HAVE A WELL!!!!! I don't have a finished kitchen but we have a well. Our wonderful neighbor Tom who has a well rig out here brought it over for us to use. Roger and Tom also drilled a well for neighbor Willie and between the two it was about 3 weeks of work. We do not have it all plumbed to the house yet but it sure is nice to just stretch a hose from the well to our holding tank in the root cellar and fill it up. It will probably be July before that is plumbed as fishing season is about to start. And then Roger did a ton of work on the yard, tilled up the garden area, and built a greenhouse. It will probably be freeze up before my kitchen gets done. Roger still has about 2 weeks before he has to leave for 25 days of guiding up at Tal Vista Lodge, then a week or two break and then about 20 more days of guiding, so hopefully he will get a little bit more done on the kitchen before then but with the other stuff that needs to be finished, like the greenhouse which is close to done but will take another day I am guessing. And lots of other little odds and ends things. I do not have pics of the greenhouse, yard etc at the moment but will try and get some soon and do another post.
On a sad note our friend Joe Delia passed away on May 1st. We flew into town and attended his Celebration Of Life on May 18 and Roger is currently in town doing some shopping and seeing Norma. I am home holding down the fort and tomorrow I am going to do a few things just for me that I keep wanting to do but never take the time.
Well time to end this, find some supper and relax. Thanks for visiting our blog and may you have a blessed day! Myra
Iditarod this year presented a few challenges. About ten days before volunteers were due to start arriving at Delia's which is where we lived for about 20 months and which is also the second checkpoint on the Iditarod dog sled race, the generator shed which supplied power to the entire site burned to the ground. We received a call about 10 pm from someone who had been going up river and spotted it. Anyway we had to round up a separate generator to use for each building. The people of Skwentna community were awesome in their offers of help. So that put some extra work on Roger to get that all set up but he pulled it off! Iditarod weekend itself was of course awesome! The "Darlings" and the "Sweeties" run the checkpoint like a well oiled machine. For the most part Roger and I get to hang out and visit and eat all the yummie food the "Sweetie's" spend all weekend cooking.
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| Ready for Dogs and Mushers! |
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| Checking a Dog |
At the end of March, Craig who is our friend and also now both our "boss" put together a group of volunteers for a weekend at his cabin and to come spend a day putting the sheeting and roofing on Roger's workshop. There were a total of nine of them that came out and they did in a day what would have taken Roger and I a couple of weeks probably. I cannot tell you how much gratitude I have for all of them.
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| This is the workshop at the beginning of the day. |
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| A Wonderful Bunch of Folks! |
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| Thank You All! |
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| Hauling to Hewitt Lake |
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| Sunset at Hewitt Lake |
WE NOW HAVE A WELL!!!!! I don't have a finished kitchen but we have a well. Our wonderful neighbor Tom who has a well rig out here brought it over for us to use. Roger and Tom also drilled a well for neighbor Willie and between the two it was about 3 weeks of work. We do not have it all plumbed to the house yet but it sure is nice to just stretch a hose from the well to our holding tank in the root cellar and fill it up. It will probably be July before that is plumbed as fishing season is about to start. And then Roger did a ton of work on the yard, tilled up the garden area, and built a greenhouse. It will probably be freeze up before my kitchen gets done. Roger still has about 2 weeks before he has to leave for 25 days of guiding up at Tal Vista Lodge, then a week or two break and then about 20 more days of guiding, so hopefully he will get a little bit more done on the kitchen before then but with the other stuff that needs to be finished, like the greenhouse which is close to done but will take another day I am guessing. And lots of other little odds and ends things. I do not have pics of the greenhouse, yard etc at the moment but will try and get some soon and do another post.
On a sad note our friend Joe Delia passed away on May 1st. We flew into town and attended his Celebration Of Life on May 18 and Roger is currently in town doing some shopping and seeing Norma. I am home holding down the fort and tomorrow I am going to do a few things just for me that I keep wanting to do but never take the time.
Well time to end this, find some supper and relax. Thanks for visiting our blog and may you have a blessed day! Myra
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| Sunset in Skwentna |
Monday, February 10, 2014
Don't You get Bored?
I can't tell you the number of times I have heard that Question.....
Don't you get Bored in the Bush? After all, there are no roads, no stores, not many people, nothing to do!!!
Oh My God, that could not be more wrong,,, NOTHING TO DO !
It has been 6 weeks since we have found time and energy at the same time, to do a blog post. When there is energy available, it is used to do task that allow us to live here. When there is time, it seams like resting is the first thing on the list of things to do.
Myra's last post was mostly about daily life and how it has been going. This one is not going to be much different.
First of all, Myra spent 3 weeks in Ohio and Florida visiting Kids, Grand kids and her Mother. While she was away I tried working more on the kitchen and did make some progress but I did not get it finished. She is currently using plywood counter tops. God Bless here patience. I probably will not get the counters done until break-up now.
I went to town for 4 days when Myra was due to fly home. That trip to town was exactly 5 months and 1 week since the last time I had been to town. That's right, I came home from town on August 26th and I did not go back to town until January 29th. I had not driven or even gotten into our truck. I had not seen a road except for the road at Deshka Landing's entrance.
Freighting season with the snowmachine started in mid December and I got very busy immediately. The "new" snowmachine I bought 2 years ago became a struggle to keep going. I have put 13,312 miles on the machine. Almost every mile of that has been pulling freight sleds, usually 2 at a time, over the rough and bumpy river trail. The suspension is just flat wore out. It seamed that every trip I had some sort of part break on the suspension. After about 1300 miles of freighting and fixing this year, I could not take it anymore. I bought a 2013 Artic Cat "Bear Cat" Groomer Special snowmachine. I have already put almost 2000 miles on the new machine.
Here's your picture.
Ooop's the picture did not come through. I have a new Iphone and an old computer. They refuse to communicate. I will try to get you a picture in the future.
This new machine does not pull as well on new or soft snow as my "old" Super Wide machine, nor does it float on top of really deep snow, BUT, Boy is it comfortable to ride. Right now we have VERY Icy conditions and VERY hard trails and the new machine is actually better in these conditions. It has Studs in the track for grabbing the ice. I am not able to put the same style of studs on the Super Wide because of machine design. As it turns out, I will end up using both machines for the correct conditions. First though, I have to replace most of the parts of the suspension on the "old" Super Wide machine. It is setting in my shop right now with broken parts that make it nearly impossible to move.
We went through a very warm period of two weeks in the forties and lots of rain. The river was not travel-able for 10 days and it almost broke up completely. It was a very scary time for those of us that live out here. We almost ended up losing the freighting season and having to fly everything out here. That would have been a disaster for us financially.
When Myra got home she started a new Job. She is now answering phones and emails / selling tours for the Snowmachine company that I do tours for. If she does a good job, I do more tours. If she does not, She gets fired and I haul more freight and do less tours. LoL.
I have guided (I think) 14 tours so far this year, to go along with freighting over 3000 miles. Myra is now scheduled to work for 3 different lodges for a few days here and there over the next 3 weeks and possibly a 4th lodge entering the picture. The Iditarod dog sled race is the first week-end of March and we host the 2nd checkpoint of the race which takes up the better part of a week and I still have several loads of freight backed up from the warm spell.
Don't You Get BORED? UH, NO!
Now let me see, We still haul every drop of water we consume, have to keep a generator running a few hours a day, burn wood for heat, make most food from scratch, are in the middle of a remodel, keep snowmachines running, answer phones for a tour business, haul freight, work at lodges, play racket ball as often as possible (to stay in shape), deal with snow, cold, rain, ice and manage to right an occasional blog post.
Did I forget to mention, while I was in town to get Myra, the fuel oil furnace that we have for back-up heat quit working. All of the water lines froze, the water heater froze and broke, the cabin got down to about 0 degree's, Myra's plants all died, The kitchen faucet split, all the stuff in the refrigerator froze and it was a general pain in the butt.
Today, I took the day off. I rebuilt the clutch on a friends snowmachine, Then we adjusted the valve clearance, changed a few suspension parts on his machine, changed the oil filter (not as easy as a car), and a few other maintenance items. Then another friend stopped over and we rebuilt the clutch on his machine. Oh Yea, and before that, I played racket ball and on the way home I stopped by Willies and diagnosed a problem on his snowmachine and he went and got some parts for it. (I still have Willies to fix). Then I split a little wood and loaded up the wood supply on the back porch for Myra.
Today was just a Boring (Don't You get Bored) type of day. Myra worked her phones, cleaned house, went to two different neighbor lodges for a little bit and made dinner etc. She was bored to!
Tomorrow, I do a snowmachine tour (She's doing her job), then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I freight.
Yep, We get bored in the Bush!
Good thing there is no roads, no cable TV and no modern amenities of being in town or we would get busy. We have lost a combined 80 pounds or so in the last year!
Thanks for being with us on this adventure!
Don't get Bored
Roger
Don't you get Bored in the Bush? After all, there are no roads, no stores, not many people, nothing to do!!!
Oh My God, that could not be more wrong,,, NOTHING TO DO !
It has been 6 weeks since we have found time and energy at the same time, to do a blog post. When there is energy available, it is used to do task that allow us to live here. When there is time, it seams like resting is the first thing on the list of things to do.
Myra's last post was mostly about daily life and how it has been going. This one is not going to be much different.
First of all, Myra spent 3 weeks in Ohio and Florida visiting Kids, Grand kids and her Mother. While she was away I tried working more on the kitchen and did make some progress but I did not get it finished. She is currently using plywood counter tops. God Bless here patience. I probably will not get the counters done until break-up now.
I went to town for 4 days when Myra was due to fly home. That trip to town was exactly 5 months and 1 week since the last time I had been to town. That's right, I came home from town on August 26th and I did not go back to town until January 29th. I had not driven or even gotten into our truck. I had not seen a road except for the road at Deshka Landing's entrance.
Freighting season with the snowmachine started in mid December and I got very busy immediately. The "new" snowmachine I bought 2 years ago became a struggle to keep going. I have put 13,312 miles on the machine. Almost every mile of that has been pulling freight sleds, usually 2 at a time, over the rough and bumpy river trail. The suspension is just flat wore out. It seamed that every trip I had some sort of part break on the suspension. After about 1300 miles of freighting and fixing this year, I could not take it anymore. I bought a 2013 Artic Cat "Bear Cat" Groomer Special snowmachine. I have already put almost 2000 miles on the new machine.
Here's your picture.
Ooop's the picture did not come through. I have a new Iphone and an old computer. They refuse to communicate. I will try to get you a picture in the future.
This new machine does not pull as well on new or soft snow as my "old" Super Wide machine, nor does it float on top of really deep snow, BUT, Boy is it comfortable to ride. Right now we have VERY Icy conditions and VERY hard trails and the new machine is actually better in these conditions. It has Studs in the track for grabbing the ice. I am not able to put the same style of studs on the Super Wide because of machine design. As it turns out, I will end up using both machines for the correct conditions. First though, I have to replace most of the parts of the suspension on the "old" Super Wide machine. It is setting in my shop right now with broken parts that make it nearly impossible to move.
We went through a very warm period of two weeks in the forties and lots of rain. The river was not travel-able for 10 days and it almost broke up completely. It was a very scary time for those of us that live out here. We almost ended up losing the freighting season and having to fly everything out here. That would have been a disaster for us financially.
When Myra got home she started a new Job. She is now answering phones and emails / selling tours for the Snowmachine company that I do tours for. If she does a good job, I do more tours. If she does not, She gets fired and I haul more freight and do less tours. LoL.
I have guided (I think) 14 tours so far this year, to go along with freighting over 3000 miles. Myra is now scheduled to work for 3 different lodges for a few days here and there over the next 3 weeks and possibly a 4th lodge entering the picture. The Iditarod dog sled race is the first week-end of March and we host the 2nd checkpoint of the race which takes up the better part of a week and I still have several loads of freight backed up from the warm spell.
Don't You Get BORED? UH, NO!
Now let me see, We still haul every drop of water we consume, have to keep a generator running a few hours a day, burn wood for heat, make most food from scratch, are in the middle of a remodel, keep snowmachines running, answer phones for a tour business, haul freight, work at lodges, play racket ball as often as possible (to stay in shape), deal with snow, cold, rain, ice and manage to right an occasional blog post.
Did I forget to mention, while I was in town to get Myra, the fuel oil furnace that we have for back-up heat quit working. All of the water lines froze, the water heater froze and broke, the cabin got down to about 0 degree's, Myra's plants all died, The kitchen faucet split, all the stuff in the refrigerator froze and it was a general pain in the butt.
Today, I took the day off. I rebuilt the clutch on a friends snowmachine, Then we adjusted the valve clearance, changed a few suspension parts on his machine, changed the oil filter (not as easy as a car), and a few other maintenance items. Then another friend stopped over and we rebuilt the clutch on his machine. Oh Yea, and before that, I played racket ball and on the way home I stopped by Willies and diagnosed a problem on his snowmachine and he went and got some parts for it. (I still have Willies to fix). Then I split a little wood and loaded up the wood supply on the back porch for Myra.
Today was just a Boring (Don't You get Bored) type of day. Myra worked her phones, cleaned house, went to two different neighbor lodges for a little bit and made dinner etc. She was bored to!
Tomorrow, I do a snowmachine tour (She's doing her job), then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I freight.
Yep, We get bored in the Bush!
Good thing there is no roads, no cable TV and no modern amenities of being in town or we would get busy. We have lost a combined 80 pounds or so in the last year!
Thanks for being with us on this adventure!
Don't get Bored
Roger
Friday, December 27, 2013
So This Was Christmas!
Ok where do I start?
I guess I will start back in November. On the 20th I "moved" over to Northwoods Lodge to care take over there while the owners went on vacation. That was also the last day that we drove the Rhino. Took 3 attempts to get up one of the hills and then we just barely made it. OK time to switch to snow machines, even though there wasn't much snow. The river was not safe but we have overland trails between us and the lodge.
Roger stayed here at our place to work on the kitchen and his snow machine. The plan had been for him to get the kitchen done while I was care taking at the lodge. Well you know what they say about plans! Roger had to get his snow machine up and running so he would be good to go once the river was safe for freighting. Well that ended up taking longer than expected as come to find out the Skidoo place sent him the wrong part which we didn't know until after having another part sent out and the problem still continued and had everyone baffled. So Roger got online and did some research and discovered that the first part was not the right one! UGH! (And it was the Skidoo places computer that had the wrong part listed). So the Skidoo place ordered the correct part, and then had to ship it out here. Now that may not sound too bad until you realize that we maybe get mail into Skwentna 2 times a week, weather permitting. And then someone has to be able to get up there to get it. Always interesting!
The weather was very weird through this time also. We had a few days of sub zero temps, then would warm up to the upper 20's I think we may even have gotten above freezing a day or two. When it gets that warm you get overflow on top of the ice on the river and that is not good. Sometimes it can get pretty deep and it really sucks when you get stuck in it. Roger had a freight sled stuck in overflow last week and it took about 2 hours to get it out.
Anyway I was at Northwoods Lodge until December 15th, and then I hopped their back flight into town and was there until the 18th. And baby it was COLD! The entire time I was in town it was in the -20's and 30's! Luckily I didn't have to spend too much time outside, just mainly going from the truck into a store etc. I flew back home on the afternoon of the 18th after a couple of whirlwind days in town getting groceries, plumbing and electrical supplies etc etc etc. Always tiring!
I have just been doing the daily stuff of life out here since getting back. There is always wood to bring in, especially when the temps are sub zero as they have been again this past week, meals to be fixed and so on. And I tend to want to stay inside when it is that cold out!
I really struggled with putting up any Christmas decorations as I did not have much Christmas "spirit" going on. My mood was such that as far as I was concerned I just wanted it over. Anyway I did finally put a few things up about 5 days before Christmas and all in all it was a nice day.
Started out with Roger fixing the generator at 5:30 in the morning. We had been having trouble with it for a while but thought it was maily due to the cold. Anyway on Christmas Eve I couldn't keep it running unless it was fully choked and that is not good for it and then it just quit altogether! Anyway Roger found something in a port and got that out and knock on wood the generator has been running great since.
Then Roger went to play racquetball while I enjoyed my coffee and Bejeweled. While playing racquetball there was a collision of sorts while going for the ball and Roger's toe got the worst end of it. Pretty sure it is broken but he is "toughing" it out.
My Christmas present was Roger hooking up the kitchen sink again even though the counters are not done, the framework is in and the sink was in place. It will have to come out one more time when he does the counter top but who knows when that will be now that freighting and tours have started! Maybe during breakup this spring! I am thinking that Roger's Christmas present is me not griping about the kitchen situation! LOL
We needed water so Roger went to get some while I started dinner as we had invited a couple of our "bachelor" neighbors over for dinner. They got here before Roger got back with water, which actually was good as the freight sled got stuck behind the wood shed and it ended up taking two machines to pull it out. So got that done and then had a nice dinner with Al and Willy.
Yesterday Roger was supposed to put my counter top in but ended up freighting for another freighter who's machine broke down. While he was gone, I attempted to do dishes. We have an instant water heater that we keep a metal plate in the chimney of to keep it from freezing when it is so cold. So you pull the plate when you want to use it. As it was so cold I was putting the plate back in after each time I ran hot water and then pulling it out again when I needed more hot water. Well I went over and pulled the plate out, stopped to answer a text, maybe a total of 3 minutes, and went over to the sink and turned on the hot water faucet. Within a few seconds, I heard a hissing and turned to look......OH CRAP!!!!!! There is water spewing all over out the side of the water heater. I am looking everywhere for a shut off valve and not finding one.....try calling Roger.....try calling Roger......Thank God got a hold of Roger. Have to go to root cellar and disconnect power from the water pump. Ok pull the red wire off the pump, go back up and into house, water still spewing! OK lets open faucet get the pressure out of the lines.......not losing pressure......what the heck?! Can't get a hold of Roger again (he is freighting) ok back to root cellar, not sure what I am going to do but got to do something, water is still spewing everywhere and going underneath the new flooring! Get down in the cellar, take another look at the pump and suddenly see another pump! We replaced our pump this past fall, I had pulled a wire off the old pump that was not in use! Anyway finally got the water stopped.....sopped up and sucked up as much of the water as I could and then we ran a fan on the area of the flooring that had gotten wet. So far it seems to be ok. Thankfully! Seems like you just get one thing fixed and something else breaks.
Today Roger left here at 7 a.m. with a temp of -27 to do a propane run and also a tour. He often combines the 2 as there is no sense in running "empty" to the landing and back. Right now it is 8:45 p.m. and he is a little over half way home. Tomorrow we are both going in to the landing, Roger has two tours to do and I am going to run to Anchorage and Wasilla and take care of some stuff. It will be another long day for both of us. I am guessing that Sunday Roger will collapse for the day after he delivers propane to Skwentna.
Well I am thinking that I have rattled on long enough. Now you know what has been happening the last couple of weeks. Oh and the good news is it has finally warmed up! Right now we are at +3F and lightly snowing. Thank you for taking time to read our story, may each and every one of you have a Blessed New Year! Myra
I guess I will start back in November. On the 20th I "moved" over to Northwoods Lodge to care take over there while the owners went on vacation. That was also the last day that we drove the Rhino. Took 3 attempts to get up one of the hills and then we just barely made it. OK time to switch to snow machines, even though there wasn't much snow. The river was not safe but we have overland trails between us and the lodge.
Roger stayed here at our place to work on the kitchen and his snow machine. The plan had been for him to get the kitchen done while I was care taking at the lodge. Well you know what they say about plans! Roger had to get his snow machine up and running so he would be good to go once the river was safe for freighting. Well that ended up taking longer than expected as come to find out the Skidoo place sent him the wrong part which we didn't know until after having another part sent out and the problem still continued and had everyone baffled. So Roger got online and did some research and discovered that the first part was not the right one! UGH! (And it was the Skidoo places computer that had the wrong part listed). So the Skidoo place ordered the correct part, and then had to ship it out here. Now that may not sound too bad until you realize that we maybe get mail into Skwentna 2 times a week, weather permitting. And then someone has to be able to get up there to get it. Always interesting!
The weather was very weird through this time also. We had a few days of sub zero temps, then would warm up to the upper 20's I think we may even have gotten above freezing a day or two. When it gets that warm you get overflow on top of the ice on the river and that is not good. Sometimes it can get pretty deep and it really sucks when you get stuck in it. Roger had a freight sled stuck in overflow last week and it took about 2 hours to get it out.
Anyway I was at Northwoods Lodge until December 15th, and then I hopped their back flight into town and was there until the 18th. And baby it was COLD! The entire time I was in town it was in the -20's and 30's! Luckily I didn't have to spend too much time outside, just mainly going from the truck into a store etc. I flew back home on the afternoon of the 18th after a couple of whirlwind days in town getting groceries, plumbing and electrical supplies etc etc etc. Always tiring!
I have just been doing the daily stuff of life out here since getting back. There is always wood to bring in, especially when the temps are sub zero as they have been again this past week, meals to be fixed and so on. And I tend to want to stay inside when it is that cold out!
I really struggled with putting up any Christmas decorations as I did not have much Christmas "spirit" going on. My mood was such that as far as I was concerned I just wanted it over. Anyway I did finally put a few things up about 5 days before Christmas and all in all it was a nice day.
Started out with Roger fixing the generator at 5:30 in the morning. We had been having trouble with it for a while but thought it was maily due to the cold. Anyway on Christmas Eve I couldn't keep it running unless it was fully choked and that is not good for it and then it just quit altogether! Anyway Roger found something in a port and got that out and knock on wood the generator has been running great since.
Then Roger went to play racquetball while I enjoyed my coffee and Bejeweled. While playing racquetball there was a collision of sorts while going for the ball and Roger's toe got the worst end of it. Pretty sure it is broken but he is "toughing" it out.
My Christmas present was Roger hooking up the kitchen sink again even though the counters are not done, the framework is in and the sink was in place. It will have to come out one more time when he does the counter top but who knows when that will be now that freighting and tours have started! Maybe during breakup this spring! I am thinking that Roger's Christmas present is me not griping about the kitchen situation! LOL
We needed water so Roger went to get some while I started dinner as we had invited a couple of our "bachelor" neighbors over for dinner. They got here before Roger got back with water, which actually was good as the freight sled got stuck behind the wood shed and it ended up taking two machines to pull it out. So got that done and then had a nice dinner with Al and Willy.
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| The Kitchen "A Work In Progress" |
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| Kitchen |
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| The New Stairs |
Yesterday Roger was supposed to put my counter top in but ended up freighting for another freighter who's machine broke down. While he was gone, I attempted to do dishes. We have an instant water heater that we keep a metal plate in the chimney of to keep it from freezing when it is so cold. So you pull the plate when you want to use it. As it was so cold I was putting the plate back in after each time I ran hot water and then pulling it out again when I needed more hot water. Well I went over and pulled the plate out, stopped to answer a text, maybe a total of 3 minutes, and went over to the sink and turned on the hot water faucet. Within a few seconds, I heard a hissing and turned to look......OH CRAP!!!!!! There is water spewing all over out the side of the water heater. I am looking everywhere for a shut off valve and not finding one.....try calling Roger.....try calling Roger......Thank God got a hold of Roger. Have to go to root cellar and disconnect power from the water pump. Ok pull the red wire off the pump, go back up and into house, water still spewing! OK lets open faucet get the pressure out of the lines.......not losing pressure......what the heck?! Can't get a hold of Roger again (he is freighting) ok back to root cellar, not sure what I am going to do but got to do something, water is still spewing everywhere and going underneath the new flooring! Get down in the cellar, take another look at the pump and suddenly see another pump! We replaced our pump this past fall, I had pulled a wire off the old pump that was not in use! Anyway finally got the water stopped.....sopped up and sucked up as much of the water as I could and then we ran a fan on the area of the flooring that had gotten wet. So far it seems to be ok. Thankfully! Seems like you just get one thing fixed and something else breaks.
Today Roger left here at 7 a.m. with a temp of -27 to do a propane run and also a tour. He often combines the 2 as there is no sense in running "empty" to the landing and back. Right now it is 8:45 p.m. and he is a little over half way home. Tomorrow we are both going in to the landing, Roger has two tours to do and I am going to run to Anchorage and Wasilla and take care of some stuff. It will be another long day for both of us. I am guessing that Sunday Roger will collapse for the day after he delivers propane to Skwentna.
Well I am thinking that I have rattled on long enough. Now you know what has been happening the last couple of weeks. Oh and the good news is it has finally warmed up! Right now we are at +3F and lightly snowing. Thank you for taking time to read our story, may each and every one of you have a Blessed New Year! Myra
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Bottom Fell Out
So, I am riding along,,,, I know I am on a creek bed,,,,Everything had appeared to be fine until I looked ahead of me and I saw some open water about 25 yards ahead. I slowed down and suddenly "The Bottom Fell Out"
None of the Brown water and snow you see was visible in this area when I started into the area. When the machine broke through it sent out a wave and things just changed everywhere.
Look at the edges of all of these Brown holes and you can see that they just broke away. You can even see some ice floating in the top right of the above picture and in the hole directly to the left of the machine. Boy was this a surprise when it happened. It was instantaneous. The things you see on the right lower corner of this picture is packages of mail I was trying to take to the Post Office along with my survival back pack kit (which I was wearing).
I was between 3 and 4 miles from home, not on a frequently used trail, trying to take a back way to the Post Office. The main trail on the river had some very bad ice conditions so I was trying to go this way. Me and a friend have gone this way a few times in years past but I was all alone and the first to travel it this year. This creek does not look bad but look below.
See the stick in the water in front of the machine? See the water under the back of the machine? See the water off of the left side of the machine? ( The water off to the left side is not there in the first 2 pictures) See the water under the skis of the machine? Now look directly behind the machine on the snow. There is 1 red and 1 blue ratchet strap connected to a yellow rope tied to the little tree across the way. I pulled the machine onto this little 3' wide island using the ratchet straps and rope I had under the seat. The machine had slipped farther into the water during the process. Look closely at the hood of the machine. There is a line of ice starting at the front left (upper front) corner of the hood and going off of the back of the hood just below and behind the "Rotax" decal by the windshield. Back to the stick in the water, Look at the snow just left of the stick and you can see ripples (ridges). This is the marking from the track of the machine tipped sideways in the creek. Now, Look at the stick in the next picture.
The stick is over a foot into the snow and there is an ice line on it. That water is over 4' deep and it is that deep all of the way around the machine. God gave me that little island right there for some reason and I sure do appreciate it. Now look a little closer at this picture. Do you see any foot prints between the machine and the rope the ratchet straps are tied to? No, I had to walk behind where I stood to take this picture, walk down about 30 yards and cross the creek, walk in the woods on the other side and come out at the tree, then walk back around again, and again, and again, and again, etc. The ice would not hold me to go straight over to the tree, trust me, I tried.
Back to the stick, I cut this stick to make a walking / ice testing pole. I had to jab and prod the ice with every step, every trip around, because the ice kept changing and breaking up. I was wet to my knees where I would drop thru with one foot or another. Thank God I never fell straight thru to my chest.
Now for the last part of the challenge. The machine is balanced on that little 3' island and the skis are hanging over 4' of water. The motor had been wet and I had to dry the wires to get it started. I had to get on, lean back on the machine putting the back into the water, get the skis pointed up over the bank of the creek and hit the gas and kind of leap the machine off of the island and across the water. Yee Ha,,,, I made it!
It took me a couple of hours to get the machine out of the water and onto safe land. We wear boots called "Bunny Boots" up here. They are amazing technology. They do not saturate with water and they will keep your feet warm when full of water and it is 10 degree's outside. I can personally attest to this! I was warm enough I actually took a different route and still went to the Post Office. I did go into the generator shed while there and take off my boots and socks and wring out my socks and squeegee my polypropylene inner pants etc. Never ever wear cotton clothing out in the cold. If it gets wet it can kill you from hypothermia. The proper clothing was amazing. It is the first time I have had to depend on it in a "danger" situation. Had I not been able to get the machine out of the water or not been able to get it started I may have had to walk back home. Can you imagine doing that in 10 degree's soaking wet in cotton clothing?
I also always have a survival pack with me that includes 5 different sources of Fire starters, a small pot to boil water for drinking, Extra gloves and hat, materials to make a shelter, a small first aid kit, an emergency satellite "Spot" locator that I can use to send for help and other misc small items (mirror, whistle, marker and flags, compass) etc. I also keep Flint Strike Fire starter in a zipped pants pocket and another one in a zipped coat pocket just in case the survival pack were to be lost (under water). I did have to change gloves quickly because they got soaked immediately and my hands went numb. I did warm up with dry gloves.
I have been accused of carrying too much stuff before but I got to tell you, I never felt threatened in this wet situation because I knew I could survive and get dry, over night and more if I needed to. There is only about 5 or 6 hours of daylight here this time of year and help can't always get to you the same day, even with exact GPS coordinates. It was 2 hours after dark when I did get back home.
I was able to get messages to Myra and let her know where I was and what was going on. Modern technology is wonderful.
I know I made this story sound dramatic. I did not have a camera crew for a TV reality show, No helicopter, No Bear Grylse (Survival guy) No Yukon Men. It really was just a day in the life of living here. One I hope not to repeat, but it is part of it. I learned a few things that day, about the terrain and about myself. I also learned that I am not over prepared, just pretty well prepared. I may even add a couple of things after this.
Thank You for being on Our Adventure with us,
We'll talk to you again Soon,
Roger
PS: Myra has a bunch of pictures of our cabin remodel and other things going on around here but she is not here right now. We will post again soon.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Changes Continue
Roger said it was time for me to do a post so here goes...........
Roger continues to work on getting his workshop enclosed, the "roof" is on (at least as much of a roof as we have at the moment). As the workshop was not one of the projects we intended for this fall it has been a matter of using what we have or can make with materials we had here. We also wrapped the sides in Tyvek which will be his walls for now. He did put tarps up today on the upper portion front and back so he is getting the entire thing at least closed in and somewhat protected from the elements. Hopefully the winter freighting season will be a good one and he will be able to get the roofing and siding materials hauled out to put on in the spring. Got to have something to do during breakup.
As you can see in the above picture we are in the transition time between snow machines and 4 wheelers. We will probably be parking the 4 wheeler later this week as it is not liking the cold temps and the trails have gotten icy so hills can be a bit of a challenge. The river stopped last night in front of our cabin. There is still a lot of open water but hopefully the cold weather we are currently having will freeze it up the rest of the way. It was -13 degrees this morning and the highest temp today was +5. Snow is forecast for later in the week so we shall see!
I have been helping Roger as needed and tending to the daily stuff like cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes (which I do have to say that out of all the modern conveniences I used to have I probably miss a dishwasher most of all!). I have also been baking our bread and buns for hamburgs etc, as well as cookies for us to have at afternoon coffee time. I told Roger we had turned into my grandparents, I remember Grandma and Grandpa denDulk having a cup of coffee and cookies pretty much every afternoon. Now it is us!
I have also been taking pictures. These are a couple of a sunset we had a couple weeks ago that was just incredible! I tried printing one with my printer but the colors didn't come out right so I guess I am going to have to get it professionally printed if I want the amazing colors to show properly, which they don't in these pics as I had to resize them.
I have also been making some hand stamped cards, now that my craft area is complete and usable! Tomorrow I/we start lodge sitting over at Northwoods Lodge for about 3 weeks. I will stay over there most of the time and not go nuts with Roger tearing out the kitchen, putting in the flooring downstairs and building new kitchen cabinets! I will come over and help as needed but for the most part I think I will stay over at the Lodge and enjoy having a dishwasher to use and also a hot tub! LOL
Oh and I will be making Christmas cards while I am there too. I have found that is a good time to do it while over there caretaking.
I also have been trying to get the pictures on my computer into some semblance of order and in doing so I ran across a picture of Jeff and Hans from when we first got Hans. So I decided to post that one as well as one I took of the 2 of the them the other day. My how things have changed!
On the subject of critters, we have had a shrew (aka mouse) in the house this fall and the other night it got into the dog food bowl and couldn't get out. It drew Jeff's attention and he meandered over to the dish. And then proceeded to just look at the shrew and start eating with the darn thing in the dish! You can see it to the left of Jeff's head.
And you know it's gotten colder when your Husky wants to curl up next to the woodburner!
In the past we didn't have a problem with rodents as we had cats. As we no longer have cats, we have mouse traps on the way with the groceries our friend went and got to send out on the plane tomorrow. I have to say I still have not gotten used to asking someone else to shop for me but I am learning. I never overly enjoyed shopping but it is weird having someone else shop for me. Anyway that is about all for now other than I want to thank all of you for sharing our adventure with us. God Bless! Myra
Roger continues to work on getting his workshop enclosed, the "roof" is on (at least as much of a roof as we have at the moment). As the workshop was not one of the projects we intended for this fall it has been a matter of using what we have or can make with materials we had here. We also wrapped the sides in Tyvek which will be his walls for now. He did put tarps up today on the upper portion front and back so he is getting the entire thing at least closed in and somewhat protected from the elements. Hopefully the winter freighting season will be a good one and he will be able to get the roofing and siding materials hauled out to put on in the spring. Got to have something to do during breakup. As you can see in the above picture we are in the transition time between snow machines and 4 wheelers. We will probably be parking the 4 wheeler later this week as it is not liking the cold temps and the trails have gotten icy so hills can be a bit of a challenge. The river stopped last night in front of our cabin. There is still a lot of open water but hopefully the cold weather we are currently having will freeze it up the rest of the way. It was -13 degrees this morning and the highest temp today was +5. Snow is forecast for later in the week so we shall see!
I have been helping Roger as needed and tending to the daily stuff like cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes (which I do have to say that out of all the modern conveniences I used to have I probably miss a dishwasher most of all!). I have also been baking our bread and buns for hamburgs etc, as well as cookies for us to have at afternoon coffee time. I told Roger we had turned into my grandparents, I remember Grandma and Grandpa denDulk having a cup of coffee and cookies pretty much every afternoon. Now it is us!
I have also been taking pictures. These are a couple of a sunset we had a couple weeks ago that was just incredible! I tried printing one with my printer but the colors didn't come out right so I guess I am going to have to get it professionally printed if I want the amazing colors to show properly, which they don't in these pics as I had to resize them.
I have also been making some hand stamped cards, now that my craft area is complete and usable! Tomorrow I/we start lodge sitting over at Northwoods Lodge for about 3 weeks. I will stay over there most of the time and not go nuts with Roger tearing out the kitchen, putting in the flooring downstairs and building new kitchen cabinets! I will come over and help as needed but for the most part I think I will stay over at the Lodge and enjoy having a dishwasher to use and also a hot tub! LOL
Oh and I will be making Christmas cards while I am there too. I have found that is a good time to do it while over there caretaking.
I also have been trying to get the pictures on my computer into some semblance of order and in doing so I ran across a picture of Jeff and Hans from when we first got Hans. So I decided to post that one as well as one I took of the 2 of the them the other day. My how things have changed!
And you know it's gotten colder when your Husky wants to curl up next to the woodburner!
In the past we didn't have a problem with rodents as we had cats. As we no longer have cats, we have mouse traps on the way with the groceries our friend went and got to send out on the plane tomorrow. I have to say I still have not gotten used to asking someone else to shop for me but I am learning. I never overly enjoyed shopping but it is weird having someone else shop for me. Anyway that is about all for now other than I want to thank all of you for sharing our adventure with us. God Bless! Myra
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Mostly Pictures of the Shop
It has been pretty busy out. I am not going to do a lot of typing, the pictures will tell most of the story of the last 10 days.
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| Lifting the Ridge Pole up onto the second floor deck. |
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| I drilled holes into the support columns and tied a rope through the holes to hold the Com-a-long and the chain fall hoist. |
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| Once the Ridge Pole was on the deck, I stood up two very tall poles and ratchet strapped them to the support columns. |
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| I had drilled holes in the tall poles and tied ropes through them to hold the lifting tools. |
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| If you enlarge this picture (double click on it) you will see the notches I cut in the ridge pole so it will set flat on the support columns. The columns were cut at different heights to make up for the narrowing Ridge Pole |
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| Once it was in place I removed the taller poles used to lift it up. |
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| The beginning of the log Rafters being installed. I had to cut 30 nearly identical sized "Beatle Kill" spruce trees for this. |
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| B F H to pound in the B F Nails! |
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| Myra and I installed a temporary floor so I could walk around and use a ladder upstairs to install most of the rafters. It also snowed 4" during this process. |
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| Hello |
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| I can't get these pictures into the right order. This one and the next few show the process of putting up a rafter with the chain-fall, but they are in reverse order. |
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| This is showing the start of the "Purlins" that the metal roofing will get screwed to (when I can afford to get it). |
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| The peak is about 21' above the ground. The ends of the rafters will be cut to length when I get to it. Also all of the Purlins will be cut square for the metal roofing. |
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| More of lifting a rafter, still out of order ????? |
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| I got 9 rows of Purlins on today but it was too dark to take pictures by the time I was done. Tomorrow I finish the Purlins and we will put an "Alaska Roof" over the top. (Blue Tarp). Also, If you look close, right in front of the step ladder you will see that I added a center column on the front porch and an angled support up to the ridge. This was to stiffen everything up since the Ridge Pole support columns are so tall and I don't have the upper walls done or sheeting to add to the support. |
There is a 4' front porch that the ladder is setting on. There is a good view of the river and mountains from there. Mrya and I have set there many afternoons for a coffee break. One of these days a little more tree clearing out front and the view will go from good to Great.
Once the roof is covered I will add some more support to the walls and I think I am going to wrap the building with Tyvek for wind protection. I don't have the materials to "sheet" the sides or finish the roof. I need freighting season to start so,,, First I can earn some money,,,,, Then I can buy and haul the rest of the materials.
Everything you see here except the floors joist on the first floor and the plywood on the first floor has been harvested from our woods and processed on-site to build this.
I can't believe that I took time to do this blog post. I have been working until dark everyday to get this project done. It's time for bed folks.
Thanks for sharing our adventure with us,
See Ya,
Roger
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