We are making Progress

It has been a couple of weeks since we have taken time to update the happenings around here.

First and foremost, I must tell you that our Son Michael had a very serious car accident. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a power pole and some trees. No speeding or foul play, just an accident. He broke 5 ribs (#4 - #8) on his left side, near his sternum. This caused a collapsed lung. He spent 4 days in ICU on a ventilator and basically Un-conscious with chest tubes and all the "bells and whistles" . A few days after becoming able to breath on his own he was released from the hospital and he is still at home recovering. On November 7th he goes for an MRI of his left shoulder to see if surgery is required to repair damage to it.
The next thing I must tell you is that the weather here has been un-seasonably moderate. There is a system nic-named the pineapple express going through here. It is a hole string of low pressure systems back to back to back coming up from Hawaii. Our temperatures remain just above freezing and it rains A LOT. We got over 4" one day alone. We have no snow to speak of, it comes once in a while then melts off in the rain. We also have no ice on the river, not even a sign of it.
The river level bounced to near flood stage for one day then dropped 5 feet in the next 2 days. I did manage to get the boat out of the water the day the river was very high. It is now on dry land for the winter. I almost did not get to take it out of the water. The levels had dropped so low the water was 20' from land that would support our trailer. When the water level bounced up, I took the new Rhino 4 wheeler we bought, hooked it up to the trailer and pulled the boat out. I was Very impressed that a 4 wheeler could pull a 22' boat out of the water and up a pretty good hill to the winter parking spot. The 4 wheeler did it without much effort, like it was supposed to be able to do that.

Now, on to the progress.

Myra plained and cut all of the wood for some new shelves in her craft area. I did the assembly work for here and we hung them up.

I don't know why the bottom of this picture keeps getting cut off. I have tried re-loading it three times. ????

She managed to fill them within one day, with all of her stamps for making greeting cards.

I got the floor and ramp put on the shop foundation and I could not wait to try it out.

I used the starter cuts from the logs I cut for making 2"x4" boards to make the cover for the ramp. The stack of wood on the porch area is the same wood that becomes the 2" x 4"s in some up coming pictures. The slab on the saw horses shows that work is still in progress cutting slabs  at this point in time.

God made the trees but I made them 2"x 4" boards. I used the Alaska Mill on the chain saw to make 2" slabs of wood then used a chalk line and circular saw with a guide attachment to cut the slabs into the usable boards.

It takes some time but I was able to make 96 each, true dimension 2" x 4" boards out of only 2 pretty large spruce trees.

The dogs watched attentively while I made the boards,,,,, for 2 or 3 days if you can believe that. (not true)

 You can see the stack of boards on the porch area and obviously work is proceeding on the walls.

I was given the 44'x 50" double pain window you see setting on the side of the building.

 The walls are now as complete as they are going to get for now. There is a 65" wide door in the front and the rear so it has a drive thru. I have not put the back ramp on yet, it can wait for a while. The important thing is to get this thing under cover. The logs on the right of the building are becoming the floor joist for the upstairs and some of the roof rafters. If you look very closely you can see a couple of the beams are already in place for the ceiling/floor. The post in the front and back will hold the main roof log at the peak. From this point up most of the construction will be done with logs.
I have done all of this work so far for the cost of about $200 with all expenses included. I have had some items donated, some that we earned in exchange for other services and some left over plywood from other projects. I milled all of the wall wood from our trees

Just a couple of pictures of our front yard after one of the small snow falls .

And now for one of the neat things about having Potato Aficionado's for neighbors.

These are Purple Potato's with chopped Onions added. Myra fried them up for dinner tonight. They taste just like a normal potato but they are hard to "Brown". We have a lot of these canned up for the winter along with many other types of potato's. I think we have somewhere around 15 varieties and Tom and Patty planted about 30 varieties. I never knew there was so many different types of Potato's.

Thanks for being with us!

Talk to you soon,

Roger & Myra

41 Degree's and Raining

Hi There,
   It is Sunday afternoon. It is 41 degree's and has been raining for about 18 hours straight. It has been raining off and on for a few days now. I have been working on the shop, in the rain and temps for a while but today I just can't make myself do it.
   The shop pilings and floor are built. The foundation is solid and I am really happy with the progress so far. Myra has a couple of pictures to add later. (There I added them!) I will begin preparing lumber for the side walls in the next day or so and then will begin building them. First I have to do things like haul water and finish putting stuff away outside before the snow comes.
   We did a fair amount of outside clean up yesterday as the forecast was for colder temps and snow. Now the Jet Stream shifted and the temps have gone up. We did get about 1/2" of snow a couple of days ago and it was wet and sloppy. It has obviously all melted now.
   We have brought all items into the cabin. Myra went through the last of the tote's and did the final sorting of things. She still has a few little things to put away from that adventure but for the most part, we are totally moved in.
    The intention was to have the cabin completely remodeled before we moved in but as all things in the bush, the remodel is taking longer than we had hoped and we had to get stuff in before too much snow. Not only that but we were not planning on building a shop when we first got back here. We have decided that the shop has taken precedent over the downstairs remodel. Sense we have cabinets to build and a lot of items that can be done in the shop we decided it was necessary to do it first.

   I still have not made my last trip to the Post Office property for "Freeze Up" preparation. With the current forecast of rain and warmer weather (40s) the river is predicted to rise about 3', so I am still waiting as long as possible.
   I have began playing Racket Ball again, over at Bentalit Lodge 3 to 4 times a week. Since I have lost about 40 lbs in the last year, I am doing much better. It sure is fun, and un-believable that I am able to do something like that out in the middle of the woods. (Thanks Tom and Patty)
   I still have to make repairs on my snowmachine. I have all of the parts here, and have had them since last spring. Why get in a hurry, right? I have to install a new Stator (like an alternator except it is inside the engine) plus rebuild the suspension for the drive track (I have worn it out in 2 seasons) and a few other small repairs need done. This is another reason for the shop needing to be done.
   All of my tools are currently stacked, piled and stored in the wood shed and on the back porch. This is another reason for the shop to get done.
   On another note,,,,, You may be absolutely amazed at what you can order from Amazon. We are finding that to be a great resource to get things out here. They stock an un-believable amount of items and if you order over $25 most items are shipped for free. On our last order here is an example of what we ordered all at one time and coming in one shipment. A 12 volt water pump, garden hose repair ends and couplings, a part for the Paslode nail gun, a new vanity light for the restroom, chain saw bar oil, lamp repair parts, a knob for the percolator, filters and belts for the vacuum, replacement blades for the wood planner, plumbing valves, etc, etc, etc... I find it absolutely amazing that we get all of that stuff from one internet source to the post office and it is less money than at most stores.
   Anyhow, today is one of those days when it can be a struggle to have an appreciation for this place. Overcast, Raining, Fog, no view of anything and just plane rotten outside. Now I have to get on the rain gear and go get water for the storage tanks.
   The water pump is still working but it is getting pretty weak and struggling to build up pressure, that is why we ordered a new one before it goes out completely. Oh, I put distilled water in the batteries today and pumped 4 ea. 5 gallon gas cans full of fuel for the generator. I changed the generator oil and am only doing the necessities of life out here today.
   Myra is experiencing one of those "lazy days" where she managed to cook lunch and play Words with Friends. It's just one of those days here. The stereo is playing and the TV is on "Muted" because there is not anything worth watching and listening to. Have you ever had one of those days????? Tired from working none stop, depressed by the weather, (even though we do very good at not letting it get us down most of the time) and just don't feel like doing a damn thing,,, Well, that is today in a nutshell.
    Time for me to go get water then I am playing Racket Ball at 5.
Thanks for being with us
Even if it's not too damn exciting today,
Talk to you soon,
Roger

Fall Happenings

Just wanted to post some pictures of some of the completed/almost completed, and newly started projects that Roger told you of in the last post. We have some "detail" work to finish yet but overall the upstairs is done! YAY!!

The Completed Outhouse

Bathroom

 I still need to make a curtain for the sloped area and for door for bathroom. We couldn't build a wall all the way over for a couple of reasons. 1: We would not be able to get anything up or down the stairs and 2: heat, the chimney comes up on the backside of wall and that is what heats the entire upstairs.
The mirror that is leaning against the wall will be hung on that wall.

Craft Area and Bathroom

The backside of bathroom wall which we are going to build shelves for for some of my craft things. I have been planing down some "Patty" wood as we call it to build them out of. This wood got it's name because we got it from our neighbor Patty who takes trees and mills them into wood. 

The pile of "Patty Wood" I am working on.

Future Workshop

Yesterday Roger started laying out his workshop, and today he dug holes for the pilings. That was before he had to go to Skwentna and retrieve Hans and Jeff. Tuesday afternoon they decided to take off again and went back to the house up there again! We were hoping they would get hungry and miserable enough to come back here on their own but it didn't work so...................Anyway they are now back home with us and you can bet that Hans will be on his rope when no one is outside!

I leave you with a couple of pictures of the Trumpeter Swans that are currently hanging out at Mud Lake, aka Swan Lake near us. There were six pair of them out on the lake the day I took this picture.

 Well that is it for tonight. Just wanted to post these pictures. Thanks for taking time to share our adventure.

OK, I have to jump in and make a few pieces of commentary.
The Out House, It has a Real electric light inside. I trenched in a wire about 60' from the cabin so we have light inside.
The pictures of the Bathroom walls does not do it justice. It really looks very neat. Also take note of the sink in the restroom. It has "Real" plumbing. It has Hot and Cold running water and a real drain, as does the shower and Kitchen sink. I feel that is a big accomplishment and a huge change from dumping buckets. We both took a Great Hot Shower the night I got the plumbing done, and we did not have to dump a bucket or pull a pipe back out of a window. Yep, used to attach a piece of pipe and send the water out the kitchen window, from the shower.
I snapped a few pictures of Myra running the planer and dust flying all over but she has chosen not to include them. I don't think she wants proof she is working hard... Go Figure.
There are twelve Piling holes dug for the new work shop. Tomorrow I begin cutting the trees. The workshop is going to be a Hybrid log and dimensional building. It should prove to be interesting.
OK, I am done,,, Thanks Again for being with us. Roger

Just an Update

Let me start off by saying, Myra will have to do the pictures again. I just have not taken the time to get out the camera.

In the past couple of weeks we have accomplished a lot more around here. It might not sound like much to some of you but, if you have ever tried to get things done in the bush you will understand.

We have all but completed our move from the Post Office property back to our cabin. The only things left at the Post Office is things we will move in the winter. 2 more snowmachines, a roto-tiller, my freight sleds and that is about all. It was only an 11 mile move but we did it all by hauling things from the house down to the boat in a 4-wheeler wagon, load it on the boat, go 11 miles down river, unload the boat onto 4-wheeler wagon, haul it to the cabin and un-load it, put it away or put it in temporary storage and make another trip. Sounds easy, Right ! I don't know how many boat trips we made total but it was somewhere more than 15 and you can triple that number by 4 wheeler, on both ends of the trip. That's about 90+, 4 wheeler loads. Plus we received 2 barge loads of supplies from town and had a barge haul 2 of our snowmachines from the PO.

The Out house is completed and has an electric light. I buried a wire from the cabin to the outhouse about 60', Check.
The restroom Walls, Shelves, Vanity and drawers are built upstairs, Check. I still have to finish the plumbing and wiring, that is today's project.
The Wood Stove is re-located,Tile flooring under it and we are using it, Check.
The 200 gallon water storage is complete and functional in the root cellar, Check.
The back yard light and back porch lights are installed and functional, Check.
The potatoes and carrots are all canned or frozen and stored for future use, Check.
Myra's craft area is almost completely organized and put away (That's a MAJOR accomplishment) Check.
The TV, Stereo and Surround Sound system is installed including speakers upstairs. We have one of the nicest sound systems in the bush, I am sure, Check.
The "Tarp-ma-hall" has been taken down with some help of the fall winds. Everything that was under it is now either put away, "toted and tarped" or blown back to the Post Office or somewhere in-between.

We have decided to put off installing the flooring down stairs and the rest of the remodel for a couple of weeks. Once I complete the plumbing for the restroom we are going to work on a new workshop. We are going to put up a ruff skeleton of a building and put down the floor. Then we are going to cover it with a tarp so I have a place to work. Since the winds of Fall won't let a hanging tarp stay in place anymore it is becoming difficult to get much accomplished. It has only been a couple of days since the "tarp-ma-hall" has come down but it makes a noticeable difference.

It is still Fall here. The temperatures have been quite moderate so far with only seeing freezing a few times but the wind and regular rain fall is a challenge some days. There is snow in the forecast for next week with accumulations for up to 6" or so coming. I have to hustle to get the workshop foundation in before the ground freezes.

I still have to make one more trip to the Post Office property before freeze up to change the oil in the generator and top off the fuel tanks. I installed an "auto-start" system on the generator a few weeks ago that seams to be working flawlessly. It senses the battery voltage and starts the generator when they need charged and shuts it off when they are full. Once I change the oil again and top off the tanks it should be good for a couple of months to get through freeze up. Oh, I almost forgot, I still have to pour anti-freeze in the drains of the house and pump it into the fresh water system. I have already blown air through all of the fresh water lines and cleared them. The R-V anti-freeze will assure that the fresh water lines don't freeze in the low spots and it will get into the washing machine pump and valves as well as the water heater.

This is the latest in the year that I have ever left the boat in the water and made trips up and down the river. The water is very low in spots and it gets un-comfortable traveling for fear of bumping the bottom. So far, so good though. I don't think I could have done this my first couple of years. I was not good enough at "reading" the river currents to see the deeper channels. It seams pretty easy now however, and I don't anticipate any troubles.
Speaking of the river. It is turning Green and clear. The silt from the melting glaciers is all but gone. The glaciers aren't melting anymore this Fall, or at least not much. I could see about 16" to 18" into the river yesterday. That may not sound like much but during the summer you can not see 1" into the water on the glacial rivers.
The Dogs have been confused about the move back down river. A few days ago they decided it was time to go back to the Post Office property. They had been staying here very close to home but one morning they just decided to leave. They were only gone about 5 hours and we got a phone call saying they were sleeping on the porch of the house at the PO. If you have ever traveled over land up here, you know that 5 hours for 11 miles is a heck of a pace. They were on a mission to "go home". Thankfully our neighbor Willie was up river and he stopped by the house and picked them up and brought them home. Now we only put out 1 at a time or tie Hans up if they are both out, unless one of us is outside with them. They do not leave when there is only one of them, they always "travel" together.
Well, it is time for me to get to work today. One of has to do something since Myra just sits around all day eating Bon Bons and watching soup opera's. Oh, and she cooks, cleans, cans, organizes, puts away, helps me with the heavy or 3 handed stuff, helps haul things, and generally keeps my shit together. Not always hers however!
Thanks for being on our adventure with us,
Roger

We Have Been Busy! And Momma Got A New Ride!

Hi All! It has been busy around here the last couple of weeks. I am not going to write a whole lot but I do have lots of pictures to show you what we have been doing. The upstairs started out with just OSB and plywood floors. Oh and a crooked chimney for the woodburner!

Looking toward bath and craft area

Looking toward the bedroom area

Roger cut and put up firring strips over all the seams, enclosed the ugly beams and pole, and after I was finished painting, put down linoleum in the bath area and carpet in the bedroom area and my craft area.

Bedroom Area

Bath with Craft Area to the Left (Oh and a Straight Chimney!)

We still need to build a wall around the bath area but the weather turned nice finally so we have been outside trying to get the outhouse built. 

Roger just came inside and says the outhouse is almost "poopable!" Some days I really wonder........

The Tarp Ma Hall

Hey it works!

The weather has been really rainy the past couple of weeks, like rain every day so thank God for blue tarps! We put up the "Tarp Ma Hall" to use as a temporary workshop, and that is about the only reason anything has gotten done. Roger has set up his saws etc underneath it and it has worked well, until today when it got really windy so we had to re-secure the tarp to the woodshed and also parked the ATV on the one side to hold it down! 

All of this has been happening while also making trips up to the Post Office house to pack and move stuff here, find homes for the stuff we are bringing, which we don't want to move a lot in yet as we still need to do the flooring and kitchen on the main floor. Oh and a day of digging potatoes in the rain and muck, brought home about 70 pounds so I have been canning them....and Roger went moose hunting for a couple days with a friend from Texas that has a cabin near ours. And.....and.....and.... everything takes longer in the bush!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.........Momma got a new ride today! We were down to one ATV and it is in need of some repair and our friend Craig from Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours was selling his ATV's as he is replacing them in the spring. So Momma is happy! 

Momma's Ride

Well about time to get this posted and head to bed, tomorrow we have to be up in Skwentna by 10 so have to be up and at em early. I leave you with the puppies, and some beautiful clouds from the sunset a couple days ago. God bless you all and thanks for taking the time to share our adventure as it continues. Myra

Camera Hound

Playing Shy

Picture doesn't do the colors justice but it is still pretty.

I am Trying

Hi There,
   I am trying to keep you up to date and not fall further behind in writing new post so I am not taking a bunch of time to do this. That means I don't have pictures to insert as of yet. SORRY. Mra has been snapping pictures though, and You will see them!
   Since my last post Myra and I have spent 4 long days in town. We purchased supplies for about 4 months of Freeze Up and we bought a bunch of stuff to remodel the cabin. We bought so much that we brought out over a thousand pounds on our boat and hired a barge to bring out the rest, another thirty one hundred pounds. We got to the cabin last Monday (a week ago today) and have stayed here all but one night. We still have the vast majority of our stuff at the Post Office house for now.
   We have been sleeping on an air mattress. We have no TV. The radio only comes in some of the time and I just got the Internet working last night.
   After not living here for twenty months or so there have been a few things that are in need of repair. The water heater still had water in it when the cabin went cold when we moved out (by accident). That has caused a rupture in a copper line inside the unit. I still have to repair that. The snow that laid on the satellite dish for the internet apparently bent something. It took a long time to re-aim the dish to find the satellite. In the process of finding out what was wrong I was checking the cable connections and one of the connectors broke on the dish transmitter unit. That required taking the very sensitive electronic unit off of the dish, take it apart and re-solder some connections onto the printed circuit board inside it and then re-assemble everything and re-point the dish a little. The guy from Alaska Satellite in Fairbanks was a great help but I did some repairs even he has not done. You are not supposed to work on the inside of the transmitter thing on the dish but I did it, and it is obviously working.
   On our trip to town we bought about $2000 in groceries & supplies and about $5000 in cabin remodel and fix up supplies. An example of supplies is we have 300 lbs of dog food. One of things we bought was a 24' x 40' tarp to make another temporary work work area. I stretched a rope from the peak of the back porch out to the peak of the wood shed and draped the tarp over it and added some side supports. That has given us a large dry area outside to set up saws and tools for doing the work and storing items. We bought new wire shelving for the Cold Storage unit and the Back Porch (installed). We bought paint for the Up Stairs of the cabin and various other places (up stairs is already primed and ready for final coat). We bought new trim wood for Upstairs (already installed). We bought all new chimney parts to relocate the wood stove (relocation work is done, waiting to re-install until other work gets done). We bought new Linoleum for the Bathroom area (waiting on the final coat of paint before installation). We bought new carpet for the upstairs (waiting for paint) We bought new Laminate Flooring and Tile for the Down Stairs. We bought supplies to build new kitchen counters, and supplies for a few smaller projects. We also bought supplies to build (finish) the new Out House. All of the groceries and supplies have been stocked and organized. The back porch and cold storage look great for now. We will see how they look after we get all of the other stuff from the house.
   To go along with the work you see listed above that we have done and still have to do, we have made two trips to the house up river this week, to get some of or personal items and tools as well as other supplies that we had there. To say the least, it has been busy out! We still have a lot to do on the cabin to get it the way we want it before we move all of our stuff in BUT; The water level has been dropping in the river and we need to get the rest of our stuff hauled down here from the house very soon or we are not going to have it until after Freeze Up some time in December. With that being said, we have a small Jet Barge scheduled for Wednesday to go to the house and get at least 2 of our snowmachines and what ever else we can fit on the barge, then bring it to the cabin / river landing.
   We have been working 12 to 14 hours a day, then dropping like a rock onto the air mattress for a wonderful night of air mattress sleep. At his point we have no hot water or running water for that matter. We are eating with all plastic and paper dishes for the time being. Cooking is minimal to save time and mess (We are loosing weight).We only have the Toyo heater for heat in the cabin. It has rained at some point every day and the temps are in the 50's at best for the high. It is Fall and winter is coming fast. At least we have a good supply of Fire Wood already here and we are ignoring the outside work that needs done. The grass is about 3 feet tall or more (no exaggeration). I may have to shovel snow to build the Out House and I want to get pilings in the ground for a new work shop before the ground freezes. I am sure I will have to shovel snow to work on that project. We will make several more trips to the house with our boat (hopefully) before the water drops too low, and will get most of our stuff here. (With all the rain this week the river will probably raise for a little while.)
   To go along with all of the work there is a little more time required. It is Moose Season! I am going on a 2 to 3 day Moose Hunt with a friend from Texas and a neighbor from up here. I have to take time to do the little things you know. Also, a little more meat in the freezer never hurts. Hopefully one or more of us is successful.
OK, now you know what I know. It's time to get to work, again!
Talk Ya Soon,
Thanks for being here.
Roger

It's about Time I did this again!

   It has been a really long time since I have done any writing on here. I guess I just got into a routine of life up here and thought you all might be getting tired of hearing (reading) the same old thing. Well, things are not the same old thing in many ways as I have been so politely reminded by one of my dear friends. (Yea, you know who you are.)
 
   I am not going to try to re-cap an 15 month period in one post but I will give you some highlights. I will get into more detail in the future.

   Currently Myra and I are still living at the Post Office property in Skwentna. Myra has been working part time at the Skwentna Roadhouse and I hauled "winter freight" with my snowmachine and have been guiding for fishing all summer the last two summers. My quote "new" snowmachine now has 11,690 miles on it and is in need of suspension rebuild and a new stator before this winter. We have put two new fuel injectors in the boat this summer (at the same time) and the machinery has been getting a work out.

   I have started guiding at a new lodge and river location on the Talachlitna River about 16 miles up stream from Skwentna. This river is totally different from where I have been guiding. It is Very Remote and challenging to get to with a boat. There are few fishermen that make it that far so it is peaceful and the fishing is plentiful. I will post pictures and many more details later.

   The winter freighting has been going very well. The snowmachine has not left me stranded to where I had to walk over 2 miles. That's another story (or two) as well. I have been hauling very nearly 6,000 miles a year. The machine has paid for it's self. I have two freight sleds now and am contemplating buying another new snowmachine and giving Myra the other one. The new old one is still looks like new and is in overall very good shape but with 12,000 miles of hauling, how much can it be trusted on long heavy hauls at -20 degree temps? Walking in those conditions is no fun!

   The dogs are doing well. Jeff has developed a little problem with getting "Hot Spots" that need washing and care, but they don't seam serious. We are going to try changing there diet and see if that helps him. Hans is over three years old now and is still just a big puppy. He weighs nearly a hundred pounds and bounces around like a rat terrier. I don't think he will ever grow up. He is well behaved but he talks back a lot. He does not take off and swim the river as often as he first did when we moved up here but we still don't trust him not to go adventuring for very long periods of time.

   My Dad past away in July. We had been home in May and had seen him then and he seamed fine for being 81. a few weeks later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and three weeks later he passed away. I did get back to Michigan in time to see him the day before he died and I was with him when he passed.

   I have spent about 8 days over 2 trips up to Shell Lake to work on a cabin for a "week ender" named Bob Bell. (If you get a chance google or go to Amazon and search for Bob. He wrote a couple of books titled "Oh No, Were Gonna Die".) Anyhow, I straightened his pilings (foundation) on the cabin and braced it up, built a deck and re-roofed the sauna / shed building. Shell Lake is fly in only in the summer so Bob had to pick me up in his float plane and fly me up and back both trips. If you read his book(s) you may come to realize I was taking my life in (his) hands to do this. Over all everything was fine and he seams to have learned from past mistakes.

   As a result of a good year of freighting and fishing we have a little extra money. Myra and I are heading to town for a few days and picking up or supplies for freeze up (4 months worth of stuff) and we are buying several things to remodel the inside of our cabin. We are buying all new flooring, paint, supplies to build cupboards and counters and other things. Our goal is to get it remodeled very soon and then move back into it.

   Enough for Now,
Thanks You for still being with us after all of this time!
I will try to talk to you again soon,
Roger