8 months

I am not sure where the time has gone. I realized it has been 8 months since my last posting, I had another birthday, started a new job, moved to another state, and a myriad of other things that I wanted to forget or just plain forgot.

Things have been crazy is an understatement. I’ll try to recap the last 8 or so months. If your interested.

So yeah, I started a job and moved to another state. Pretty good gig and the people I work with are good.

Having lived in a northern plain state for almost the last dozen years, I forgot how nice the south is, people are genuine, mind their own business, respect each other and will lend a hand if needed. The weather is better and most importantly, to me, is where I am at, it hasn’t been corrupted with the “you owe me” attitude. I can walk into a gun shop and walk out 20 mins later with the firearm of my choice and no waiting period. Just the standard NIC’s check, exchange of money and platitudes and its all done. God and guns are big here. I’m ok with god, I am more ok with guns.

Now that I am with-in 2.5 hrs of my cabin and property I visit pretty much every weekend. It has been pretty cool to watch the seasons as they pass over the property, hot summer, mild fall, and even a mild winter, then what seemed like an extended spring this year with leaves taking their time to fill out.

Last fall was kind of a bummer after a very dry summer, the leaves went from green to brown, then down in about 3 weeks. Zero colors on the leaves. Just brown.

I woke up to snow one morning, which is kind of unheard of in these parts. The roads were clear by mid-morning and I was able to get back to the city without issue. Snow removal is unheard of in these parts, but I am ok with that.

I came in last fall just before dark, and after a big wind storm hit the county my property is on, to a tree that blew across the county road. Actually there were a couple of trees that had come down, but other land owners had cut and cleared those before I arrived for the weekend. With the exception of one. The one that took out part of my fence and partially blocked the road to my gate. I was able to get around the worst part of it and came back in the morning to cut and clear the road and then repaired the fence without to much hassle.

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My brother spent some time with me over the Thanksgiving weekend. I promptly put him to work building a shed. Just a small 8×12′ structure with a sloped roof. Simple and cheap. I was in desperate need of a place to store stuff,  be able to lock up when I am not there without walking away. Before the shed I was storing the generator in the cabin and tools in the outhouse. Not the most ideal.

The above pic was the start of the shed. It was really the only place I could put one do to the terrain. I didn’t want to block my views, or the circle drive. So this space was a compromise. In the end it turned out great. I knew in the back of my mind I wanted solar and needed a place that was dry, and not in the cabin.

An extended weekend and my Christmas tree.

I purchased a Harbor Freight solar kit as a starter to get the feel of solar. Solar and batteries can kind of be intimidating at first so I wanted to start small until I got the feel of it and then move on to something bigger and be educated about it. 

I think I have about $300 into the system so far with the batteries eating most of dollars up. It isn’t and probably wont power the whole cabin until I can get my finances squared away in the form of a ex wife, but when I do the mental plan is to power the whole cabin and be self sufficient. I know I will always need a generator as a backup for those cloudy days, and until the electric company gets their collective mind right and not want $18,000 to run lines to the cabin, this is the best I can do in the interim.

I am able to charge what I need, when I need and it works. With gas lamps I am able to not burn electricity for light, and can get about 4 hours of TV and cell phone booster time. Which is all I need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a couple of pics of my constant companion. She is a good pup and has stole my heart.

 

I will write more about the shed construction and the solar setup I have in future posts along with some of the weekend adventures I have encountered while farting around on the property. I find it fascinating how things slow down when I am there. Being 40 minutes to the closest hardware store makes a person think about what they need BEFORE they get to the woods. I also had an issue with a ragged out old lawn mower I bought on the cheap. If I didn’t stop and think about how I was going to get it out of a bad place by myself it could have turned ugly.

But more on that later.