I had another friend stop by with a drawing knife to help debark the log. There is much dead material under the bark as well. He removed the bark I could not get off by hand, and gently scraped the log. I’d never seen it done before. I followed with a stiff brush to move the remaining dirt and debris.
Then, on advice, I used a wood sanding bit on my grinder to work the branch ends down to both a reasonable depth to match the house, and to keep them nicely smooth yet fully intact.
It is now a fine looking log, ready to be installed. That should happen tomorrow. There is a crew coming, and I shall be there grunt for the day, but I do plan to take pictures during the repair.
A tree from the ranch, milled on the ranch, and helped tune on the ranch. It is a special log we are inserting to stabilize the wall. A log of friends, manual labor, and memories.
The first step was finding a long standing dead tree, so I visited with a friend on Nordman, whose lot did not burn in the Spring Fire. With a moisture tester, we found one that clicked in at 6.7%, which is great for the new log. I drilled a hole in the end, inserted a steel rod and prepared to drag it down the hill.
The Jeep has a 9000 pound self recovery winch, and it easily pulled the log down to the path.
We used my friend’s tractor to load the log onto my 14 foot trailer. I am trading home canned goods for the log and labor; life is good, friends are better, and shared barter is the best.
I travelled over to the back side of Powers Road with the new log, and another friend unloaded the log to put it on his mill.
His mostly automated mill quickly turned the old log.
The properly shaped D log is now ready to replace the rotten one; my log was turned within an hour!
Something is rotten here, that is for sure. My front log wall, under my giant bay windows, was mysteriously covered with a couple of new barn boards when I first arrived. I gave it not much thought, nor did my inspector, but it turns out I should have questioned such.
During the winter, there were drafts upon that wall, and at times the wall itself would move under the heavy strain of our unrelenting winds. It is ‘sealing month’ for me. Tightening up this summer only home and fixing all that I learned was leaking last year. I want a tighter house, a warmer house, less energy spent upon the heating process.
Removing the first barn board showed a myriad of patch work, which was expected upon the west facing wall of a thirty five year old house. Removing the second board, however, yielded an ugly hole. A three inch wide by twelve inch long hole of rot, long standing rot. Rot that has been haphazardly attempted to be repaired by shoving 1×6 lumber into the rot, gaining nothing, but making things worse. I surely do need a cross stabilizing brace for this unstable wall, but I first need something for said wall to adhere to.
Upon reviewing this image, I am amazed the windows haven’t fallen out, and that only one has cracked thus far.
It lasted seasonally for 35 years, but never ever use perforated pipe. This was perforated from the moment it left the tank (and thus is plugged solid).
A new 1250 gallon tank is inserted (happy to report the tank was made locally in San Luis, Colorado).
Fully installed, the tank should last for forty years, so said the installer.
A modern leach field, unlike any I have seen before.
These guys are awesome. They did all this between 10 am and 5 pm in a single day.
The last week had been very productive so I took two of the three weekend days off. Simply off, as in no set tasks, but tinkering did occur. I had a lovely Saturday night with friends, some new, and a great meal of seafood here in the mountains. I also scored lots of elk sausages and an elk roast from a kind and generous man who was at the party.
There is a change in the weather, even if only at night this week, and winter will be approaching sooner than one might think. I am far more prepared than having just arrived last year. Chores that took until late October are already complete and it is a good feeling.
I have been asked by many if I have enough wood. I often reply I want too much wood. A wise man who has been here for many years replied, “There is no such thing as too much wood out here.”
The large irony wall heater has been extracted from the great room. Known to work until the weather gets cold, the thirty five year old box was retired and replaced with a new unit tuned for 8,000 feet efficiency, which was the best power free option I could find. It should be about 10-12% more efficient than the old unit. It is also on a digital thermostat which means no more low versus medium versus high dial as an estimate for overnight lows.
Two rounds of pressure canning this weekend yielded fourteen new jars of four kinds of meats now tucked away in the root cellar. Repeating the rituals from year last, without the hurried rush to ‘get enough’ tucked away, is a comforting task. I know what I need to eat, heat, and entertain myself and the dog. I know when I can switch off a need, knowing it is fulfilled for the long winter.
Experience, albeit only one season, feels a bit calmer in the center of my being. I have been here before. I have done this. I didn’t starve or get cold, so with more stores, and new gear, this should be a season to feel comfortable moving into.
Work is a relative term. We all work, every day, all day, unless we are lucky enough to be coddled some how. I finished work last Friday (contractually selling my time), but have worked more, harder, and longer days since I stopped working. Wood piles grew, various small multi hour projects have been put to bed, parts ordered to put a few more down as historical.
My timing was not the wisest; accepting work from May through August. Sometimes we do what we enjoy, catches our interest, or feels right at the time. There is much catching up to do here. Much winter preparation now that the change is in the air. Three aspens are now yellowing, an act that seemingly occurred overnight.
Today is another full day. The countertop is scattered with post it notes. I do not feel it is a sign of aging, but perhaps it is. I find it a not only a helpful list of tasks to choose from, there is much satisfaction in removing a note, crumbling it up and tossing it away – the task, the chore, the work, complete. Done, finished, and time for the next one.
There is a connectedness to living your day this way versus the four months I stared at a screen, joined meetings, and got paid to tell people what I thought. (Any wonder I’m single?) A strange shift it is, but I would rather use my body, touch my house, my tools, think through physical issues now having a life with thirty five years making money screen-based. I shall leave the screen now and enjoy a day of physical labor. Enjoy yours, whatever it may be.
