The correct time is cabin time

Laura agreed to let me take one of our clocks from the house for the cabin. The Ridgeway Regulator is right at home on the living room wall and is now keeping cabin time.

Its been a beautiful Memorial Day with mid-summer like weather. Great day for smoking brisket and pork butt for dinner. Between stoking the smoker and working the garden today, I cleaned off the cabin porch and updated the blog with a summer picture. Can't seem to get off cabin time on the weekends.

A Ridgeway Regulator school house clock is right
at home in the cabin.  We bought this from MN Billings
Furniture store in Chillicothe about 20 years ago. Marshall, the
owner, had it hanging in his office. I asked if he would sell it and he did.

Emeril, Paula Deen, Laura and Nic should all be proud

The kitchen is pretty much finished now and ready for some action. Not much more to do with it except some plumbing and flue hook ups and some baseboard/trim installation. Of course, there is always opportunities to add some kitchen touches for the culinary efforts that will soon follow. Big kudos to Robbie for cleaning and painting the little cook stove. I've named it "Beulah" in honor of someone special. I can still remember my great aunt Beulah Fosson who was such a free spirit. She was born in 1911 (11 years before my dad) and used to show up for visits at our home during my childhood. If I remember correctly, she would be driving a 1955 ford (yellow maybe?) and would stay the night. Such a wonderful, warm person. She passed away in 1995 at the age of 84 and I believe she is buried in the family cemetary on Lost Creek in Kentucky. What I recall is her charm, happiness, and independence. She just seemed to keep on going; this little stove deserves to be a "Beulah". I'm sure Aunt Beulah grew up around a similar little stove.

Ready for action. Bean pot on back of stove.

"Beulah" the workhorse of the kitchen.



Not too big or too small. Functional.



The Char-Wood Cooler. Robbie says its the single
best investment in the cabin. Of course its always
full of ice and adult beverages when he visits.

An Off-the Grid view of kitchen

Bar and fridge.

Cooking Stuff!

Kitchen Area Before.

Kitchen completed.

Kitchen Progress

Picked up Robbie at 7 this morning for a day at the cabin. He hopped in the bucket of the front end loader on the tractor as we drove it up to ManCamp. We flushed out a coyote in the lower pasture; glad Kuma d.o.g. was safe at home as she would have got her butt whipped by this guy. Once at the cabin, we decided to divide and conquer a couple of tasks. I worked on the kitchen floor finishing the grout while Robbie cleaned, steel wooled and painted the cook stove. Although it was 84 today, it felt much cooler in the cabin due to the forest canopy. Amazing how trees provide natural air conditioning. We had plenty of water and adult beverages on ice to keep us hydrated. That just means we spent lots of time sitting on the porch where we saw a large variety of birds and a deer wondering just below. After taking Robbie home, I went to Menard's and picked up a stove tray to sit it on. After picking up Kuma, we walked it up to the cabin and enjoyed the evening listening to the frogs on the pond.

Grouting kitchen

After cleaning up the new tile and grout gaps, applied half of grout today. First time I've ever tried the pre mixed grout that comes in quart containers. I'm spoiled now; this is too easy. No messy mixing and no color match worries. A single quart completed half the kitchen. This job will be completed tomorrow.

Kitchen tile installed

FINALLY. The kitchen tile is installed. Will grout this weekend and finish base board trim. Hope to work on stove so it can be reinstalled next.

Kitchen floor tile almost done

Kuma and I met my brother-in-law Mike at the cabin today and we moved the kitchen stove so I could put down the last of the kitchen floor tile. I'm not sure how much that little stove weighs but it must be between 200 and 300 pounds; its heavy! I plan to refinish it with high temperature stove paint before setting it back in place. I put down some floor tile to demonstrate to Mike how its done.  I only have about 8-10 square feet to finish before grouting! Will definitely wrap this project up this week and move the stove back in place. Biscuits and gravy can't be far behind.

Busy Weekend at ManCamp

Lots to do this weekend at the cabin. Finally into a routine staining the paneling for the ceiling. About 200 board feet is installed and more being prepared at the expense of 2 smashed fingers. Also working in the kitchen between batches putting down floor tile. Once the finished boards are hung a new batch is coated and set out to dry which allows time to get out the tile saw and get back on the floor job. Hope to get some mowing and clean up done this weekend, too. A great day to be outdoors to enjoy some real mid Spring warm weather. Kuma is having a blast running around and checking out the woods.



Nice day to work with the place open and a breeze blowing through.



Another 10 boards sanded, stained and poly sealed x3 ready to hang.

Still need to stain and install some trim molding for transitioning but the
contrasting tones is what I wanted.

Doesn't seem like much but I've smashed 2 fingers
already...

Tropical Rain Forest

Kuma and I hiked up to the cabin today to work on the kitchen floor and to stain more ceiling boards. I can't believe how much the forest canopy has grown out the past 3 weeks with all the rain. The cabin is being absorbed by the trees and undergrowth. Hopefully, we can complete putting the kitchen tiles down this weekend. The first 100 board feet of ceiling panel boards have been stained, poly sealed and installed. Only 1900 feet to go. Second 100 board feet are in the sand/stain/poly/sand cycle. Progress is about where I expected it to be at this time; hope to finish by late summer.

A rainy day message from ManCamp

Kitchen floor tile going down

Today Robbie returned to ManCamp and we began putting down the kitchen floor tile in the cabin. The cooler was filled with water, diet Pepsi and adult beverages on ice to keep us hydrated. Installing tile is a great job for a wet Saturday in late Spring. Front door wide open, birds singing, rain pelting on the roof, and too oversize Appalachians trying to navigate around in a kitchen while trying to avoid stepping on the new floor before its cured. Now that its started, this moves up in priority with the ceiling boards. We can work both projects concurrently since each job has limits and time that must be allowed for drying/curing. Progress is always good at the cabin as we try to keep it moving toward completion.

Groceries for Ninja Squirrel

Picked up another 20# of squirrel food and a bag of corn on cobs for Ninja squirrel. He's still wiping all the feeders clean each day. If he's stuffing the food in a hollow tree for 2012, It will come tumbling down before the end of the Maya calendar. Kuma was with me; it seemed like mid-August hiking up to the cabin. The humidity, heat and smell took me back to late summer. We're in for a rocky ride with the weather this year. I put a second coat of gloss poly on the ceiling boards. The first application was absorbed like a sponge. This may take up to 5 coats to get it right.

Staining (again)

Broke out the belt sander and started on the ceiling paneling today. After sanding about 100 board feet, I applied the first of 4 coats of stain and poly seal. The first coat really soaks in quick and should only need about a day to dry before the second coat. By the time the final coat goes on, each board should shine like glass. This is going to take awhile (like all summer). Hope to complete about 100-200 board feet a week. At least the wood flooring will already be prepared and won't need this effort.

Generator has a new home

This weekend was filled with random activity that continues to move the cabin toward completion. My friend Robbie has been in Wyoming and unavailable to assist me. Nic has been working weekends at the Lake White Club so its just been Kuma d.o.g. and me doing all the work. After hauling and unloading 9 cases of ceramic tile and 500 board feet of ceiling paneling, I finally completed the Power House for the generator. It now has it's own home and has been moved out of the bathroom where its been stored when not in use. With this outdoor project complete, its time to move back inside, especially since the weather man is calling for a wetter than normal summer through July. Whats nice about working inside is that in just a few steps I can be on the porch enjoying the outdoors again.

Power House secured. Discharge vent on south end.



North end inlet vent.




Inside the insulated box is the 3500 watt generator, coolant fans and
remote temperature monitoring thermocouple. Still need to add RV
plug to cabin supply line that is hard wired and buried.




Dual 3 speed fans keep the generator cooled.




Delivered 500 board feet of paneling for a start on the ceiling.




Some music, a belt sander and stain and I'm ready to start
work on the first 10 boards. Every board will be sanded, stained and have a
high gloss poly seal applied before being installed on the ceiling.




Delivered 9 cases of ceramic floor tile to complete the kitchen floor.
If I get tired of sanding and painting ceiling boards, I can lay tile instead.




A motion activated surviellance camera on the porch caught one of the
nosy neighbors Saturday morning. She was just checking out the work.



More fun than a pet coon

Kuma accompanied me to the cabin today to continue work on the generator house. Painted the inlet and exhaust vents and hung the doors. Also installed some more trim and a hasp.  Once tools were put up, I installed the generator to assess operation. The sound was muffled significantly and appears below 40 decibel. Allowed it to run about an hour and the internal temperature leveled out at 87; well within an acceptable range. Still need to insulate doors, and ceiling so it should even run quieter when all the insulation is completed.

Kuma d.o.g. is more fun than a pet coon when you break out a box of Cheez its. I sat on the porch until dark enjoying her jumping and catching Cheez its in flight. Cabin time is pretty relaxing.

Generator House wrapping up

Rain or shine, the generator "Power" house should be completed this week. Made good progress today and winding down activity to just minor tasks to complete. Still need to hang a door, install some trim, apply stain and sealant. Didn't take Kuma today due to the mud at the farm. There are not enough towels and covers to keep a vehicle clean when a Labrador has an evening in mud holes, a creek and a pond. I actually missed her as she is a great companion when working. As I returned to the barn, I encountered 2 large Canadian geese at the pond. In hindsight, Kuma is lucky she didn't make the trip. Geese can be pretty violent and will attack a passive, curious dog with a vengeance if they feel threatened. I'm sure she would have ran after them and it wouldn't have a good outcome.

Generator House Progress Report

I decided to focus attention on getting the generator house completed before returning inside to work on the cabin. Its taking longer than estimated, mostly due to the plan put together to reduce noise, keep it cool and protect it from thieves. The house is framed with 2x4s, covered with 1/2" OSB and then 1/2" T1-11 siding. The metal roof is the same as the cabin. Inside, there is 4" of Styrofoam between the studs and covered with metal flashing. Dual intake fans and an exhaust louver should keep the genny cool in the heat of the day.  Hope to get it completed this week so it can be stained to match the cabin. I'll be so happy to finally put the generator in and hard wire it to the cabin.