Stoved out...

Back when we were planning to build the cabin addition, we decided to put in a basement first. So we dug a big hole, built the basement in it, then jacked up the cabin and moved it onto the basement. Kind of backwards, I know, but that's what happens when your hindsight is 20-20. At first we tried to heat the whole house with a wood stove in the basement, but that was a pain, constantly running up and down the stairs to check on and stoke the stove, so we put a Monitor oil stove in the basement and moved the wood stove back upstairs. That was over thirty years ago. Now, the company that produced the Monitor has stopped production. The local dealer switched to Toyo and no longer services the Monitor. So that was the conundrum, a stove that's worked great all these years, and still might have years left, is largely unserviceable. So after angsting over it for a year, decided to get a Toyo. But I checked out the other dealers in town, didn't want to go back to one who dropped the service, and bought it from a different one this time. I guess we'll see how that works out.

Jack Black likes the new stove just fine; it's a little bigger, so there's more room for him to hang out on it. It was kind of a pain to install, since everything was slightly different than the Monitor. But still, I got it working in a day. One real problem was the fuel line, the old one didn't fit and finally got it right after getting some help from a neighbor, the third time was the charm!

Dog Drivin' Again...

Finally got out with the dogs this week. Not enough snow for the sled so have been using the 4-wheeler and running the neighborhood roads. The first run was not so good cause Mac the pup got loose, chased us down the road, and forced me to turn around when I couldn't catch him. But he did run home with us so that that's something, I guess. Today I took him with, figured if he wanted to go, well maybe it was time to learn to be a sled dog. Except for a brief panic at the start, he did fine running with the team. Gus, the dog I got to replace Jabba our departed leader (Here and Gone 6/28/20), well not so much. He took us on a tour of the neighbor’s driveways, so I finally just turned them around and went back home. Maybe next time I’ll get around the loop! 

The team back home after a not so hard run. Mac, in the middle. did great for his first run. Gus, looking studly up front but not doing what he's supposed to, will likely be replaced in lead, but by who, well that's the question...

First Snow....

The NWS had predicted snow for the last few days, so we've been trying to get stuff ready. Before putting the bikes to bed for the winter, I suggested to Andy that she take hers for a ride. So she took it for a spin around "the island", the circular part of the driveway.

A little too cool for a serious ride, maybe 38°F, she got the "stink blown off her" as my grandma used to say.

And the snow finally did get here today. It was snowing lightly in the morning, but picked up a bit in the afternoon.

The roof on the workshop slowly turned white as the snow fell harder. It's cold enough, 23°F now, that it'll be sticking around for a while.

With the colder weather, Jack Black has been staying inside more. He keeps a close watch on his food bowl, letting us know whenever it needs refilling.

Chinook...

Had a chinook come through last week,  the warm, dry winds pushed the temps into the upper sixties and finally dried out the ground after the recent rains. Was able to get in a few rides on the Guzzi and also finished up some projects. One of them was fixing the mailbox posts.

About twenty years ago, the state resurfaced the Hot Springs Rd. One of the add-ons to the project was replacing all the mailboxes with DOT approved ones. There's apparently a whole bunch of regs for any mailbox that's placed in a state right of way. so the they figured it was easier to replace all the old boxes with new ones that were approved. So now, the boards that hold the boxes to the post are all failing. Not sure why they're so bad, maybe they didn't use treated wood for that part, since the verticals are mostly fine, but they look like the buildings you see up here in old, abandoned mining camps.

The top boards are all cracked and encrusted with lichens, they could be hundred year old relics!

Replaced the old boards with 2x4 AWW. The bolts holding everything together were 1/2" shank, 3/4" heads that were a real challenge to remove. The whole thing seems incredibly over engineered, so it's ironic that they apparently used untreated lumber that failed in maybe twenty years. 

One of the neighbors came by when I was finishing up, so told him I'd help him fix his mailbox. "Just get a 12' AWW 2x4, I'll cut'er in half and drill the holes so you can replace yours. Won't take you an hour."

"Oh I don't know" he said, "maybe I can just fix it with duct tape." 

The next day I saw him walking down the road with a rebar and a hammer. He apparently drove the rebar into the ground under the mailbox and used it to prop up the box. I guess replacing the broken boards was just too much trouble for him to bother with it. 

The neighbors solution; well like I always sez, to eaches his onus.