Log (page 9 of 13)

The day-to-day Puckaway activities, recorded for posterity.

Log: September 3 – 5, 2016

Saturday

I pulled in at 11:30 with a truck full of tools, painting supplies, and a big ol’ 36″ prehung, outswing, exterior door I found for cheap on craigslist. It’ll eventually adorn the new outhouse, but for now it goes in the pole barn. Unloaded the rest of the tools and drove over to the keep where I hauled in my clothes, some clean towels and sheets, two flats of bottled water, and a cooler full of my latest batch of pickled goods. They now bide their time in the keep fridge, awaiting the brave souls who shall attend Puckaweekend 2016.

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From left to right: garlic mushrooms, mustard/Tabasco eggs, horseradish eggs, pickles, Hell pickles, spicy garlic asparagus, Inferno asparagus.

With the truck emptied out and the pole barn jukebox playing some 70’s rock, it was time to set my sights on the big project of the weekend: painting the keep. I finally have a stretch of days with weather that lends itself well to painting outdoors (it’s supposed to stay under 80° with low humidity and plenty of sun all weekend), and I’m planning on making the most of it.

However, before I could even crack open a can of paint, I needed to prep the keep. I filled the bird feeders, then hauled the ladder onto the deck and used it to get a good look at the roof. What a mess. Years of leaves and small branches have piled up, decomposing into dirt in spots, the edging is pulling away in several places, the main vent pipe for the furnace is not connected to anything, and there’s grime and moss everywhere. I brought a leaf blower up and blasted the majority of the compost away, then took some sheet metal screws and secured the trim and the vent. Now it was time for the heavy equipment.

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Log: August 6 and 7, 2016

Saturday

Pulled in with Lyssa and the boys around 11:30 am. I had Jake’s tractor in the back of the truck so we unloaded that right away, fired up the Power Wheels ATV, and the boys were making trails through the tall grass. Beautiful day today; upper 70s, clear sunny skies, and breezy.

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The Quarrymaster.

I helped Lyssa haul our cooler and bags into the keep and noticed a noisy and very small bird chewing me out from up on the deck rail. I looked around but didn’t notice any kind of nest so I just shrugged it off. The temperatures might be low enough, but it’s still pretty humid, so I turned on the AC in the keep for the day to help dry it out in there. We enjoyed a quick lunch before I took on the big project for the day: the grass.

Yesterday, at my folks, the boys were taking turns riding with Grandpa on the lawn mower and they wanted to do the same thing here. Josh rode around the yard with me for maybe a whole minute before he decided it was just too noisy for him. He headed back to play with trucks in the pole barn and Jake joined me for cutting the driveway, which looks great now that the lawn and leaf trailer loads have really compacted in the low spots. It got me wondering how many more years it’ll be before I can trust him to cut up here by himself. That’ll certainly be a huge help. I’ll have to go through the logs to find out how old I was when my grandpa let me do it.

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Log: July 27, 2016

Quick drop-off mission. Pulled in a little before 7 pm with Dad’s aluminum trailer behind me. I made quite the circuit today. Left Oshkosh for Farmer Joe’s where I dropped off the trailer, continued on to Milwaukee for my annual ticker check up, then stopped back by Farmer Joe to load up some goodies. The previous owner of his farm had left a lot of things behind in the shed and Joe was getting sick of it all taking up space. He’s been living there a year and gave the guy one more week to clear out. He came by and cherry picked a few things but left some interesting stuff behind. I picked up a pool table and a 14′ duck boat. Figured both might be fun additions to Puckaway if they’re in decent shape and easy enough to dispose of if they aren’t. I set the pool table top on end in the pole barn, laid the duck boat upside down over Defiant, checked on things in the keep, and headed out around 7:30. Hoping to get home in time to watch the EAA night air show with my boys.

Log: July 16, 2016

Pulled in a little before noon with Lyssa, the boys, and a truck full of tools. I also brought up a replacement blower/leaf collector unit for the riding mower that I found on craigslist. It might need a little tweaking to fit, but it’s in a lot better shape than the stuff we already have.

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Wild black raspberries!

The boys wanted to ride their Power Wheels right away but they hadn’t been charged up. I need to rig something up to make this work better. We typically charge these things after they run them all day, but leaving the chargers plugged in isn’t the best idea as they’re not “smart” chargers and might wreck the batteries. Maybe I can get some kind of timer that’ll shut off after 6 hours or something. Anyway, we set them up on the chargers and Lyssa took the boys for a ride on the ATV in the meantime. I focused on tidying things up in the pole barn. It’s nice having walking room in here again with Dad’s boat back up at Presque Isle. It wasn’t long into their ride when Lyssa pulled back up to the pole barn. They had found some black raspberries growing along the trails by Peter’s woods and wanted to make sure it was OK to pick them. I got her a container to put them in and they were off to collect. After a while, they came back with a few handfuls worth. Josh was very excited about this new feature of a “wheeler ride.”

IMG_20160716_155608345Lyssa wanted to wash the berries, so I turned on the pump in the keep and we hung out in there for a bit. The boys snacked on berries and Cheez-Its, Lyssa relaxed, and I started clearing out the front closet. I guess I just don’t know how to come up here without starting a project and the shelving situation in there has been bugging me for a while. I tore out the original side shelves and Richie’s homemade extensions, took some measurements, and crafted new full-width shelves out of 1×12 boards. These are now solidly anchored with 2x2s and I was able to move a bunch of things out of the kitchen cabinets into the closet. There’s room to bring in a set of dishes, which makes more sense now that we have running water to wash them with.

I cleaned up my tools and the boys got a little time with their Power Wheels before we decided to head out and grab some dinner around 6:00. Fun little day trip today with perfect weather.

Log: June 25, 2016

Pulled up to the keep a little after 9:15 am, fired up the AC, and turned right back around. We’ll let the place cool down while we’re at Aunt Judy’s. This was slated to be a “camping” weekend up here with the Voights and Saucedas, but work schedules and a forecast of highs in the 90s with plenty of humidity combined to shut that idea down. Instead, Lyssa, the boys, and I are joined today by Kent, her sister Christine’s husband. As a high school teacher, he’s got summers off and is up visiting from Houston. This’ll be his first trip to Puckaway.

Shortly after we were seated at Aunt Judy’s, Jake got a big, loud greeting from the proprietress herself. “There’s my waffle baby!!” He cracked up and got a big kick out of that. Kent was impressed that we were recognized regulars at such a fine establishment. After breakfast, we made a quick stop at the feed store to grab another deer block. The one I put out last month is already almost completely gone. They seem to have all found the new clearing in the yard.

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Working hard at the quarry.

Back at Puckaway, the boys showed their uncle around while Lyssa and I got the pump started and filled the pool. It’s already hot enough to break a sweat standing still. The boys and I got on the blue ATV and Kent followed us on the green one for a tour of the marsh trails. Even with the heat and lack of rain, there’s still a fair amount of water out there. Lyssa smartly relaxed in her hammock while we were out exploring. Jake wanted to show Uncle Kent the bird feeders he and his brother painted me for Father’s Day, and we got a little surprise—both of them are full of sticks! Must be wrens.

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Log: June 10 – 12, 2016

Friday

Pulled in the driveway at 5:45 am to turn on the AC in the keep. The forecast is calling for humid days with highs in the 90s all weekend. I wanted to make sure we’d have a comfortable place to get out of the heat and I figured our only shot would be to give the air conditioner a head start. I headed back to Oshkosh as I still had to work a full day. Throughout the day, I kept an eye on the temperature and humidity readings from the Raspberry Pi server in the keep, and was pleased to see that it was able to maintain a 10 to 12 degree difference from the outside temps with humidity hovering around 55%. We’re certainly pushing the limits of that little 5,000 BTU window unit by asking it to cool a 40-year-old mobile home, but it’s making a valiant effort.

Arrived for the second time around 4:00 pm with Lyssa and the boys. Jake and Josh went off on their Power Wheels to explore the yard and were particularly interested in the new area by the bird feeders. The heat and humidity are pretty intense, but the keep is a nice little oasis. I’m not a fan of waking up early, but I’m definitely glad I did today.

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We had a dinner guest!

We brought up a small pool for the boys and I set it up by the picnic table and swing. I drove a pipe into the ground next to it and hung the hoze nozzle from it, giving Jake and Josh a makeshift sprinkler as the pool filled. Lyssa worked on stocking the fridge and prepping the keep while I headed to the pole barn. The replacement starter solenoid for the blue ATV finally came, so I took a few minutes to install it. No more pull-starting! The ATV fires up with the turn of a key again, just as God intended. I drove it out to show the boys and was signalled to come in for dinner. We had grilled burgers and veggies at the keep’s kitchen table; it’s way too hot and humid to enjoy a meal on the deck today. While we ate, I brought up the live stream from the bird feeder camera on the living room TV. This let us keep the shades drawn to keep the heat down while allowing the boys to keep an eye on the animal traffic. Just as we were finishing up, Jake spotted a deer. Good to know they’re taking advantage of the food block out there. The doe was being pretty cautious but stuck around a good 15 minutes or so. It’s crazy how bright and colorful their coats get this time of year.

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Log: June 3 – 5: 2016

Friday

Arrived at 4 pm pulling the two ATVs on the aluminum trailer. Gorgeous day; sunny and in the upper 70s. In short order, I dropped the trailer, parked the truck, and got on the mower. The focus of this trip is going to be lawn maintenance. I plan on trying out the new lawn/leaf collection trailer at some point, but first I just need to mow again. Grass is nearly waist high in some spots, and the leaves on the ground could use another good mulching before they get picked up. I cleared around the front of the pole barn, the brick garden, the keep, the marsh entrance, and most of the big trailer’s front yard. I also ran through the area I cleaned up by the bird feeders earlier this year. The view from the deck (and the bird feeder camera) is now vastly improved.

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I put away the mower around 8:00. The wind was picking up and the clouds seemed to threaten rain, so I got the ATVs into the pole barn for the night. The blue one still needs to be started with the pull rope. I figured out what was wrong with it back in Oshkosh—the starter solenoid is shot—but I won’t have a replacement part until next week. At least it’s an easy part to get to.

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Log: May 29, 2016

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The new blinds help keep the temperature down quite a bit.

Lyssa, Josh, and I came up around 12:30 in the truck, pulling Dad’s new aluminum trailer behind us. Jake’s up north at Presque Isle with my folks. Today, the trailer will finally get used for its main purpose: hauling ATVs. I was planning on taking the blue one home to figure out what’s wrong with the starter and figured I’d just bring them both back. This way, I can pressure wash them and make sure they’re both caught up on scheduled maintenance. Josh hopped on his Power Wheels four-wheeler and made some laps around the yard while I loaded the trailer.

I stopped in the keep to wash up and drop off some clean laundry and took a moment to appreciate the new blinds. They’re really helping to cut down on the heat; it’s almost 5° cooler inside than out. We left around 2:00, trying to beat the next storm front moving through. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out what’s ailing the blue ATV this weekend.

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Log: May 21 and 22, 2016

Saturday

Lyssa, the boys, and I pulled in around 2:30 pm with a truck bed full of tools and burnables. Beautiful day; sunny and upper 70s. I backed the truck up to the pole barn to offload my tools and the boys were off on their Power Wheels. Lyssa made herself comfy with a book while I stacked cardboard and the remains of our old coffee table in the burn pit. There’s a lot to do up here, as always, but I don’t really have a set agenda. The only real goal of this weekend is to have our first overnight stay as a family. As I was looking around and sizing things up, inspiration struck. The tree at the base of the driveway would have to go.

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A little bigger than I had expected. Good thing there was nothing in its way.

Over half of the upper branches were dead and bare, so I figured if the tree was going down, it’d be better if it was on my terms. I fired up the chainsaw, made sure the kiddos were well clear, and the tree was on the ground in short order. Jake was really interested in how I cut it, and went to show off the “felling wedge” to Lyssa and Josh. He thought it was really cool that I could get the tree to fall just the way I wanted it to. Hell, so did I. I’m still kinda new at this.

As long as the chainsaw was out, I also trimmed some dead limbs from the small tree next to the pump. I had a helluva time carving everything up, though. I must have really dulled the chain when I was clearing brush and stumps last trip. The boys gave me a hand hauling limbs and branches over to the pit. Poor Josh was getting frustrated; he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to lift the big pieces like his daddy. He’ll get there soon enough.

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Log: May 15, 2016

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Looks better and deters squirrels. What’s not to like?

Lyssa, the boys, and I pulled in around 11:30 after the requisite Aunt Judy’s breakfast. It’s a little cool today, highs in the lower 60s, but it sure feels nice when the sun peeks out of the clouds. I opened the pole barn right away so Jake and Josh could get their Power Wheels out and they were patrolling the yard in short order. Lyssa went off in search of a nice, quiet place to read. I wasn’t much help in that regard; the first thing I went for was the chainsaw.

In reviewing the timelapse footage from the camera I installed last week, I noticed the squirrels still had no problem getting to the feeders. They weren’t getting around the baffle, though. This was an aerial assault. I always thought the dead lower branches by the feeders and garden shed were an eyesore anyway; now I had even more reason to get rid of them.

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One of several rose-breasted grosbeaks we’ve seen at the feeders this spring.

I spent the next few hours clearing limbs and unwanted scrub growth from around the feeders. I’m getting pretty good at felling trees. I had to thread the needle a few times between the feeders and deck and thankfully there were no casualties. As long as I was clearing, I maneuvered my way through the overgrown area behind the outhouse and mostly reclaimed the little wildlife garden my grandpa planned many years back. The whole area looks a lot nicer now and it’s easier to spot the birds as they fly to and from the feeders.

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