Clean up time

These past few days have been very rainy and haven't been able to get any work done. Wednesday turned out to be a very nice day and it was time to do something. My place looked like a mess.



This is the overall look

Here is how it looks now





As you can see, I put a tarp on the polebarn, now I will put plywood on top of that. I am pretty much ready to put firewood under it. Woke up Wednesday morning and low and behold ice on the trees up high.

My tomatoe plants are coming along fine although, they are taking a long time to ripen.



Took some random photos for no particular reason





I forgot, after I built the deck, I moved my little freezer on it but, It took up to much room so, I built a little addition for it to sit on. Worked out real well.

The steps and roof for the porch will be next after I finish the polebarn. Other than this, not much going on here except the rain. I woke up this morning and it was pouring and 42 degrees. Me thinks we are getting close to that time of the year. Actually, I am happy that the nights and mornings are getting cooler, can't wait for the days to become as cool. Anyway, I just thought it was time to check in and let everyone know what's going on.

My busy week

This has been a very busy week and very progressive for me. First of all, I woke up about 2 am Tuesday morning and there was a light shining through the window. I got up to investigate and it turned out to be the moon of all things. I was excited, this is the first time I have seen it since Summer started. There were also stars out. I enjoy the night time.



While outside, I took a picture of my polebarn, Looks kind of cool at night.

After all the excitement, I went back to sleep, I had a busy day ahead of me.  Woke up around 7:30am, had coffee and breakfast and went to work changing the cabin around again. Moved my TV and stuff again. Moved them back to the corner, it was too close to watch.

I am getting into the flower thing, it feels good to have some color and to smell them.

Afterwards, it was time to go outside and get down and dirty. Time to replace the center beam under the cabin. When I built the cabin, I put RR ties under there. So, I decided to replace them so, I could use them someplace else. As you can see, not much room to crawl under there and I had 4 of them to drag out, which wasn't so easy either. But, I did manage without any help.



I peeled a pole to put back under there. The pole was a whole lot easier to work with.



When that job was completed, I took the rest of the day off. Took a nap and watched some movies later on.
  Wednesday, my neighbor showed up with his truck and trailer and we took a ride to pick up some free plywood from a trucking company.

These were the stacks of plywood they were giving away.

Loaded up and ready to go. I also got a bonus, they gave me a bunch of lumber.

Here are some pictures I took on the way back.











Finally, back at the cabin, my neighbor left the trailer at my place and I unloaded everything by myself.

Here is the free lumber I got and there are more attached to the plywood.

and of course, the plywood. They arn't perfect but, with some trimming there is enough to cover my polebarn and another project. We may go back for more.

Now, we are into Thursday, that was the big workday. I started building the new deck on my cabin and all from free recycled lumber.
Before

After





It took me about 10 hours by myself for this project and it was a miserable 10 hours. It was extremely hot, humid and buggy. I put bug dope on and the sweat washed it off. The mosquitoes were out in force. But, it was well worth it to have a decent place to sit outside.
  By the way, my tomatoe plants are coming along. The one plant is just now starting to get tomatoes and the other one is doing real well.

The new tomatoes

My other plant

"PHEW" I am plumb tuckered out doing this post. I hope all of you enjoy this post. I have quite a few more projects coming up. Take care.

Yentna River Trip

Last Tuesday morning, I started out on my trip with my friend OLD JOHN to his cabin up off the Yentna River. He picked me up at the Willow Community Center and we went to Deshka Landing to launch the boat.

Johns buddy..."CHEWY" not sure if it's spelled right but, close enough.

Arriving at Deshka Landing. This is where most everyone starts out from, whether by boat or snowmachine.

The boat, nice and comfy.



Waiting for John to park the truck and trailer.

Still waiting

Gear loaded

John at the helm

Underway



Denali behind us

One of the many fishwheels along the way

Took a picture of a couple of cabins a long the way including Luce's Lodge which is a popular place among travelers up and down the Yentna.







Here we are at the dock John shares with others

Loading up for the 3 mile trip to John's cabin

Our trip begins, this picture is looking back at the trailer we are towing.

The trail starts out pretty decent but, trust me, this is a real back trail.



Along the way, John showed me a bear skull tacked to a tree. He said there use to be more but, it seems people came along and took them.

We came upon a small homestead along the way. It actually is a nice place.







Here is where the fun starts. John has a normal trail he follows but, it is across muskeg and he thought it might be to hard to do with the recent rains. There is an alternative route but, as we followed it, it kind of disappeared so, needless to say, we ended up brushing out a new trail to meet up with his normal trail. I gotta tell ya, it was a lot of work, it was hot and the bugs were eating us alive. I didn't take any photos of us brushing it out as, I was just to bushed and sweaty and just wanted to find the other trail. I did fine some berries.



We did finally find the trail and headed to John's cabin but, I gotta tell ya, you talk about bumpy, this trail is worse than bumpy not to mention the widow makers hanging down, for those of you saying, what? They are low hanging branches, some that could take your head off if not careful.
  As we approached John's cabin, he wanted to show me the nearby lake. It's a nice lake but, we got stuck going through the weeds, yep, muskeg. We had to use the winch on the front of the 6wheeler to get out. We finally got to the cabin.

John's outhouse.

I took some pictures around the cabin.









We spent the night at the cabin and John is as good a chef as I am, we had Mountain House Beef Stroganoff and in the morning we had a great breakfast coffee, Scrambled eggs, peppers, onion and all you had to do was add water. I have to say, it did taste good. I really don't mind food you have to add water, it's fast and some do taste pretty good.
  I was pretty tired from all that work and while John and I was sitting and shooting the bull, I kept falling asleep while John was talking, LOL, sorry John. I finally had to go to bed, just couldn't stay awake. The next morning, it was raining hard and that was how it was from the time we left the cabin and all the way back to Deshka Landing.
  John dropped me off and I went back to the cabin, started a fire to take the chill off and the dampness out of the cabin. It felt real nice. Then, I made me a very nice dinner. Fried Halibut w/green onions, hashbrown potatoes and peas. It was real good.

Last nights meal was Salmon, fried potatoes and spinich.

OOPS!
Well, that was how the trip went but, all in all, it was great to get away. Hey OLD JOHN, thanks for the time.