Hi Everybody,
The weather was pretty good this year. Most days were sunny or partly cloudy with temps in the upper 70s, and just enough wind to keep the woodsplitting days from being too sweaty. We had one and a half really wet days, and one late night thunderstorm that was cool to watch. I hardly ever get to see lightning in L.A. Once again, there weren't any skeeters, which is always welcome. I kind of overdid it with the woodsplitting and strained my back a bit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as what I did to my left knee up here last year. It still ain't 100%.
I noticed that a squirrel was building a nest behind the green boards over the back porch outside the fuse box. That's why the firewood is perched up on top. Hopefully he'll get the hint and start a new nest somewhere else. The area behind the boards may need to be cleaned out. I tried to remove the bottom board, but the plastic handled square bit screwdriver wasn't up to the task.
I also noticed that there might be a splash-back problem with where the kayak sits on the woodshed. Toni gave us some aluminum drip-edge sections, and I extended the roof a few inches to prevent this. It works well.
One of the clips holding the gutter over the front porch was partially broken. I drilled a hole and put a small screw through it, to replace the broken part. It seems like it'll hold for a while. I also found that piece of plastic that I put up there a few years back to keep the rain from running behind the gutter. This time I put it up there with tiny nails facing up that I bent over, so it should stay put. It also works well. The rain still gets behind the gutter, but not the part right in front of the door. We sure could use a long extension cord around here. I may have one at home for next year. If I have room in my bags, I'll bring it. UPDATE: See the Wish List below.
Ray's old rusty BBQ works well as a wood-burner. I cooked a 10 pound pork shoulder on it that came out great. If it's OK, I'd like to keep the area under the shelf in the woodshed reserved for BBQ wood. It's full of maple chunks now. Most of them aren't split so that they'll burn slower, which is kind of central to the kind of BBQ that I like to do - low & slow. The ultimate thing to cook on it would be a 18 to 20 pound turkey, unless of course I somehow reel in a 10+ pound lake trout at some point. Doug -- now that Ray's old BBQ is up & running, I don't need bricks and such to build one, just a spot for the wood, and a place to store the BBQ. I don't think the lot will run out of small dead maple trees any time soon.
Speaking (or typing) of the woodshed, I saw Doug's note about the shelf not being level. I don't think it ever was, at least not since I got rid of the rotten birch stump on the end. I nailed in the left side to match the tilt that the right side already had. Maybe the back of it has settled or something. Anyway, I used some old refrigerator grates, a couple short 2x4's, some aluminum conduit brackets hammered flat and some nails & screws to make an insert for the shelf. It's not quite perfectly level, but it should be close enough. (Thanx to Toni for letting me use his grinder to cut the metal parts!) I'll get it oiled up for weathering next year.
I added a thing to the clothesline for drying small stuff like socks, dishtowels, etc. It's made from old lampshade parts, an eyebolt and some chain. Load the bottom part first to keep it from tipping over. It effectively lengthens the clothesline by a few feet. Hint: It can also be taken out front for direct sun exposure.
There's a new foil, plastic-wrap, etc. holder next to the fridge, made from a piece of the floater chair and two cedar shingles. I used one of the pieces that the porcupines chewed on. It's not heavy-duty, but it at least gets those long boxes out of the crappy shelves over the hot plate. Those shelves are still a terrible spot for glassware, seeing as how they slope away from the wall so badly. (Us folks who live in earthquake country tend to notice these things.) But for a nice catch on my part, we nearly lost another wine glass this year, so I put them all in the cabinets. I also moved the old bread box up to the attic, and put the microwave in its place. It can get a little crowded with the back door right there, but it sure beats carrying hot stuff back and forth, into and out of the kitchen. With the glasses out of the way, there's plenty of room for the former breadbox contents on the shelves - the peanut can and microwave popcorn, mostly. The toaster oven doesn't work in that area at all. When reaching over it to change the plugs, I kept burning my forearms on the top -- not badly, but ouch. I put a piece of white tape on the microwave cord to help ID which plug it is. How about a GFCI 4-way plug next to the fridge? It would alleviate all the plug switching and add protection against electrocution. It'd also be easy and cheap (<$20). We'd just have to keep in mind that all those appliances shouldn't be on at the same time. It would require widening the hole in the kitchen wall where the plug is, and putting a in bigger electrical box that would stick into the bedroom next to the kitchen, like the smaller box does now, but bigger.
The new lights in the bedrooms needed rewiring, a lot of shining up, and a little of the silver paint on one of them. They work great. The one in the CQ in particular makes a huge difference. They're bright enough that none of the pictures came out well. You'll just have to see for yourself. The wall switches are just inside the doors, to the right in the CQ, and the left in the other bedroom. If anyone thinks I should put one in the middle bedroom, let me know and I'll start looking for one on eBay. With the wire and chains needed to put them in, they came to a bit less than $50 for both of them. The switch boxes were already here, and I brought the switches and switch-plates from home (where I upgraded to the wide switches a long time ago). They're both wired as "plug-ins" to keep the wiring simple. The next patrons will need to plug them in to use them. I stuck some tape on the fixtures that say "40 watts max". The wires are pretty long, so it's safer to stick with the low wattage. There's plenty of light from the 23 watt curlycue florescent bulbs I put in them, which are 75 watt equivalents. I put some of those in both biffy fixtures too, since those lights tend to be on a lot when no one is actually out there. (Thanks to Ray and Carol for letting me use their ladder!)
I still think the porch could use some kind of overhead light as well, but I'll leave that for next year or beyond. It wouldn't be difficult at all to wire. I bet Toni has a decent one somewhere in his junk pile collection.
I still think the porch could use some kind of overhead light as well, but I'll leave that for next year or beyond. It wouldn't be difficult at all to wire. I bet Toni has a decent one somewhere in his junk pile collection.
The iKeywaybeek jukebox library has been updated from the 1 TB hard drive I got for Christmas. There are now 34,065 tunes to choose from. It's too much work to go through and try to weed out all the potentially objectionable stuff, so anyone with kids here may want to supervise their music searches. Again, if anyone has questions about how to use it that aren't covered in the instructions, I can usually be reached at 818-701-7418 (a newish number) or yeemoutwest@yahoo.com.
I soaped the underside of the drawers in the dresser in the middle bedroom. They seem to go in & out a lot easier now. The veneer on the drawers is beyond saving. If someone's got some glossy oil paint they can spare next year, I can paint what's left after I peel that off, and make it look a heck of a lot better. No white please. It gets dirty too easy.
I noticed the bulb is burned out in the little nightstand lamp in the CQ. I didn't bother to replace it. If the lamp gets tossed, the shade would work on the wall-mounted porch light.
There's some leftover concrete and mortar mix in the biffy tool shed. If nobody objects, I could fill in the low spot on the rock that fills up with water every time it rains. It didn't get me this year, but I bet I average about 1 soaker a year from that puddle. What we'd need is some nice looking flat rocks to go on top. I'm not sure how it would hold up to the freeze & thaw dynamics of the winters here, but it might be worth a shot.
It's possible to get a wi-fi internet connection while parked behind the back of the laundromat in Sundridge (by the white shed), without doing laundry. However, the jukebox computer isn't worth trying because the browsers are so out of date, not many websites will work with it. BYOD.
The Sundridge Community Centre (where the water comes from) has some small recycling and trash bins around the parking lot, which should allow us to keep those piles down while were here. It also has public restrooms available inside when it's open -- 'til mid-afternoon on weekdays, I think.
In lieu of making another "Older'n Dirt" CD, I made a couple of CDs for Toni. He likes Neil Young. Go figure. I've got plenty of material to keep the old stuff coming, but didn't quite have enough rainy-day time to crank one out.
The sheds are getting very crowded. How about a big reorganization next year? I could update the shelves and put in a 2x6 outboard storage bar, now that we're storing two motors. Some of the wood scraps may need to be banished somewhere, or donated to Toni.
DONATIONS & WHATNOT:
1. There's a new rug in front of the fridge. It's from Graham's latest barn clean-out. It replaces one of those rugs that rolls up under our feet and never stays put.
2. A light blue bathrobe, hanging behind the door in the middle bedroom. It's a little snug on me, so most adult humans should be able to use it.
3. A kid's size winter jacket, hanging in the CQ with the other jackets.
4. Kid's size pink sweatpants and a blue sweater, in the middle bedroom dresser.
5. A second hammer, in the back shed. That means I'm down to five hammers at home. I kept breaking them and buying new ones, but finally got my compound mitre saw going on them and reshaped the busted wood to fit the metal parts.
6. A never inflated, but by no means "new" soccer ball, in the orange bureau on the porch.
7. Three bathroom books. The CA Moderns have been retired, and I don't get them for free in the mail anymore.
8. A bunch of paperback books, donated by Graham and Eileen. Most of them are over the "door" on the inside of the CQ. This could be described as the "legal thriller" section. I have areas scoped out for future bookshelves, but it didn't seem to be a pressing issue this year. We may end up with a "sports" shelf next year if there's enough books.
9. A bunch of new screws, bolts and other stuff has been added to the gray (blue?) bin in the kitchen. They're also from the barn clean-out.
10. Waterski parts, in the biffy shed by the waterskis. Just the plastic and rubber parts that tend to wear out or break. I have no idea where they came from.
11. Three blue floaty things, in the back shed. They could be used as boat bumpers...or something.
12. Two disassembled light fixtures that could replace some of the crappier wall-mounted lights around here. I figured I'd wait for some feedback on the lights I did this year before I put them in. They're in the back shed with the electrical stuff.
13. A winter food storage bucket. Next to the flammables shed.
14. A bunch of food storage containers, which are in the kitchen cabinets close to the window. I think Eileen donated them because the lids don't snap on very tight... or I'm not using them right.
15. A nylon zip-up gray bag, from the barn clean-out, that turned out to be perfect for noodle storage (the floaty kind, not pasta).
16. An insulated grocery bag, between the cupboards and the fridge.
17. Boston Legal - Season 1 on 5 DVDs.. In the bookshelves in the main room.
WISH LIST:
An extension cord, at least 25 feet, preferably 50. I may have one at home. UPDATE: I have a three-plug 20 footer I can spare. Do I hear 25?
Better square-drive screwdrivers, including the small size(s) we don't have here. Maybe a small wrench set too. I bet these are cheap on eBay. I may also be able to spare a small toolbox, although fitting it in my bags could be tricky. UPDATE: I looked around eBay, and all the tools mentioned here could be aquired for less than $25.
A level. They sure could've used one when this place was built.
Old worn-out or second-string bathrobes. It's pretty nice to have when getting out of the lake on a windy day. Maybe some community flip-flops too.
A sturdy plastic trash can with a lid for birch bark storage. The cardboard boxes out there are terrible.
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I'll probably get this rewritten and on the Keywaybeek blog with pictures before anyone reads it on the jukebox computer, but here it is anyway.
-- Jim August 2013
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