Category: lakehouse

Cool but not as cold and probably warming up nicely later. It was even hot in the afternoon yesterday, and might be again today…. I guess we’ll see!

So I got some stuff done. I replaced the door on the dockhouse. I still need to put the threshold in, and I’ll need to change the locks at some point, but my “found on the side of the road” door fit without alteration. Well, except for hinge location, I couldn’t get lucky with that. Did some other small things too.

Played games with the family in the morning, and after dinner too. Good times. Had a campfire with s’mores. Off brand graham crackers didn’t taste quite right, but hey, s’mores!

Plan for today is more of the same, just keep knocking off tasks, and figure out what to make for dinner. Maybe a beef roast since the pork roast was so good. There is food in the freezer, and the lights are still on…

I’m not big on resolutions for the new year. I think you should do stuff when it’s time to do it… but some people give them extra significance. So in that vein, I’ll have to think a bit, but mainly I would like to do more to advance some of my “sometime later” projects. The time is now…

And just stacking isn’t enough. Time to put some of the stacks to use…

Here’s to a new year, full of promise and a clean slate. Let’s make the most of it.

nick

Cold at night, pretty nice during the day. Then cold again. We did get some ice on standing water Friday night, but I don’t think Saturday night was quite as cold- it was 37F when I went to bed. I was in shirtsleeves in the sun for part of the day.

I got lots of little things done. Added to the front walk path. Put a security/work light up under the carport. I can switch it on independently of the other porch lights,and it’s super bright. It will make a good area to work now, or play ping pong… Cleaned, put away, and organized some more in the garage. Even got a lure in the water for about 20 minutes in the afternoon. Didn’t catch anything.

Moved the small chiminea to the deck by the house and got it set up. Had a small fire in it before dinner. It’s nice to have a small fire without having to go down to the dock, and it’s warmer away from the water. I had a nice time watching the sun set, feeding it twigs. You get a lot of heat from not much wood, almost like a rocket stove.

Played several family games, and even played some pool before bed. The kerosene heater and a fan added 10F to the temps in the garage. Oh, I got a stereo and CD player hooked up for the garage too. It’s not the final system but it was nice to listen to Christmas music while playing pool.

Played “Ticket to Ride” (still love it), some dice game called Farkle that was sorta fun, once my wife had an app to handle the scoring, and played the SmartAss trivia game again. I like it. The clues are a very good mix so that everyone has a real chance to get the answer. Board games and card games are a great diversion that doesn’t require electricity. I recommend stocking a variety.

Today will be more family games, and more small jobs while cooking. I’m making a pork roast (standing rib) which we all like. This is my stock up time, because Costco only stocks it for Christmas, New Years, and sometimes Easter. Vac seal and freeze. Stack it high…

Don’t know what we’ll do for midnight tonight. We usually turn on the tv in time to watch the ball drop in NYFC, but no tv reception up here. I really hope NYPD and all the three letters can keep the hamas sympathizers from killing a bunch of people in NYC tonight. I wouldn’t be anywhere near Times Square in a normal year,– this year? NF way. It’s one of my recurring nightmares that someone walks a few mortar rounds into the middle of that crowd.

If they want to do something, and the primary targets are well protected, they’ll look for someplace else. Keep your awareness up if you are out and about, and know where the exits are. Stay safe my friends.

And stack. Just cuz…
nick

I don’t think we’ll get a white New Year, but it feels cold enough… at night anyway. We’ll see how warm it gets in the daytime and sunlight, but it was 37F when I went to bed. It’s supposed to be clear and cool.

Got my errands done, truck loaded, and made the trip to the BOL yesterday. Nikki Heat audio book kept me awake and alert. Freaking moon was HUGE and yellow orange, and just above the horizon for most of my drive. VERY dramatic. Unfortunately it was cloudy when I got here.

I drove up to the house and half my Christmas decor was dark. Dang fire ants love them some electrons… They’d built a mound over the outdoor timer/photosensor and invaded it enough that it wasn’t turning on. I banged most of the debris out, and got it working again. Wife and kids got the full experience when they drove up later.

There was some extreme weather up here this last week. The wheelbarrow was full of water, and there was plenty of evidence of high wind and severe gusts. Lake is still not at normal levels though. I think I better get some rainwater capture set up because long term, anything could happen with the lake. Sabotage could drain it, it could get contaminated, or it could just be very low in a drought. ‘Course in a drought, there won’t be much rain either. Still, I’ll feel better if I have a few hundred gallons of my own sitting here.

Wish I could store a few buckets full of electrons as easily.

And why the h-e-double-el is kerosene $15 per gallon? Gas is $2.50, and even the pre-mixed gas-oil for small engines is only $9/ gallon… it pains me but I picked some up anyway. It’s an expensive choice for heat at the moment. I pay $12 for a bbq bottle of propane,and even less in the bulk bottle for the house. I will look at firing up my Mr Buddy to warm up the garage rather than the kero heater.

Maybe I’ll install one of the wood stoves in the garage (now that we’re using it as another room)… Plenty of wood around here… and it’s not dependent on infrastructure I don’t control. Of course, that’s why I’ve been holding on to the stoves, for the house and my eventual workshop. Insulating the garage is on the list, and will happen. I skipped the step at the house in Houston when I had the chance and have regretted it ever since. Funnily enough, there have been several stoves come through the auctions with shipping damage (like mine) and despite sometimes severe damage, they STILL sold for more than I was willing to pay. Some other folks are getting ready too.

Think about infrastructure and what you can live with and can’t live without. Make some choices, and start some stacks.

nick

Cold and clear. Warming later, to a nice day, then cold. That should be the pattern for a while, with the starting temp slowly falling. Nice day once it warms up.

Did stuff at home in the morning yesterday, waiting to get the eldest child from school. Then did some pickups to the north of me. Today I’ll do pickups to the south…

Got home and made dinner. Visiting sibling so I made one of the picanha roasts (the sirloin cap) with smashed turnips, and brusselsprouts sauteed with onion and truffle oil. D2’s homemade Tollhouse cookies for dessert. Kid is learning to make some fine cookies. Then we did a small gift exchange. Sibling will not be here for Christmas, so we did it early.

These are the good ole’ days.

I’m still thinking about a bigger post. Have to get some quiet time to get it together. And some things have to work themselves through in my head…

In the mean time, the best advice I can give, you’ve heard about a thousand times, stack what you’ll need. Getting it might be a problem sooner than you think.

nick

Cold and clear. Supposed to be dry. It was cold and clear at the BOL until it warmed up, and then it got to mid 70s. It was pretty cold again as soon as the sun went down.

I spent Sunday doing the things I’d gone up to do. Took longer to unload the truck than to winterize. It’s much easier if you plan for it when doing the construction. In this case, I’d put all the hose bibs on a separate loop of pex that I put a valve on. Close the valve, open the hosebibs, and no worries about them freezing.

I also did what I could to drain the irrigation system, and opened the valves, and disconnected the hoses from them. I hope that’s enough to prevent damage. Of course, it might not freeze this year.

Or it might.

I spent about an hour chatting with my fisherman buddy up there, and his wife, before I drove home. Meatspace.

———-

Today is half day for the kids, so that cuts my day short. I’ve got a couple of pickups, and a drop off at my auctioneer. Some shopping to do. Some cleaning. And maybe some more decorations in the yard… I really like colored lights better than white.

Oh, and I need to re-bait all the poison boxes for the rats. There was evidence they’ve returned in the attic.

Later my sibling will come over and we’ll trade gifts. Won’t open them but we’ll have ours and he will have hers… or she will have his. Or “they” will have “theirs” to take home and open on Christmas.

There were roses on the rose bushes at the BOL, so even though I missed most of the color in the tree leaves, I did see that… take your joy where you find it.

Keep it close, nurture it, and stack.

n

Chilly and damp, 40F and then warming. It was 40F last night at the BOL. Supposed to be clear for a couple of days.

Got a late start to things yesterday but eventually got the truck loaded and headed to the BOL. Stopped on the way to pick up an item that hadn’t been shipped, even though it’s been a month or more. It will let me do a repair on something I’d written off as too expensive to fix.

Won a few things for Christmas presents, and a couple of things for the BOL. I’ll pick them up this week.

Today I need to unload the truck, put stuff away, and winterize the hose bibs and outdoor shower water heater. I’ll do some Christmas things if I have time. We’ll be back up after Christmas and I’d like to walk into a decorated house. I’d like to put up some lights here too. I’ve got the lights, but don’t know if I have a good way to hang them…

I’ll take some colored lights home to put up there too.

————
I spent some time thinking about truly bad things happening while I was sitting by the fire last night. I think I have a nice post coming up, if I can organize my thoughts.

In the mean time — stack.

nick