Our version of retirement: Living a childhood dream

[Gary O']

EXTREME Wood Cutting Machine - Firewood Processing Machine in Action: RaMeC Excavator Heads

Ho Lee crap!
And that looks to be alder (considered a hardwood)

[Keesha]

Impressive piece of machinery. Cuts 11 metre logs into little pieces in seconds.
Thats a lot of sawing and cutting
Very cool.

[JimW]

EXTREME Wood Cutting Machine - Firewood Processing Machine in Action: RaMeC Excavator Heads

That bad boy is awesome!

[Meanderer]

Gary, have you ever considered Cord Wood Construction?

[Gary O']

Gary, have you ever considered Cord Wood Construction?

Yeah, I’m not a mortar guy
I’ve read horror stories on shrinkage and expansion of the wood
My lady loves the thought
I….pretty much hate the thought

But

I may toy (heh ‘toy’…it’s a lotta labor) with a wall at the edge of the property
The logs must be fully cured
And the mortar material, well, I see no huge benefit other than aesthetics
That material composition is heavy. Not good for this area due to the pumice soil and geothermal activity here.
The very reason I haven’t gone the log cabin route.

I best stick to what Home Dopey has to offer.

But, thanks for the suggestion

[Gary O']

fire on the mountain this morn

[RadishRose]

Gary, you must have told us but sorry I don't recall- how far do you have to drive for supplies in winter? I admired your anti-bear shed you built to protect your trash cans, but where do you empty them?

[Gary O']

Gary, you must have told us but sorry I don't recall- how far do you have to drive for supplies in winter? I admired your anti-bear shed you built to protect your trash cans, but where do you empty them?

50 mi to the city
25 mi to the transfer station
We make the trip every two months in summer
Zero times in winter
We get religious about not using plastic and such in winter
Garbage cans become recycle cans, of which has been 3 cans of smashed tins and such the last three winters

[Aunt Bea]

One more question!

Do you live in a community of off-grid back to the land folks?

I've noticed references to folks up the trail and was curious if they are in fact up the trail of if that is just an expression.

[RadishRose]

Thanks Gary. What's a "transfer station", please?

[Gary O']

Thanks Gary. What's a "transfer station", please?

It's not a permanent 'dump'
It's got three or four huge dumpsters in a pit of which one can back up to, and three recycle (smaller) dumpsters for sorted materials such as metal

[Gary O']

One more question!

Do you live in a community of off-grid back to the land folks?

I've noticed references to folks up the trail and was curious if they are in fact up the trail of if that is just an expression.

They are getting closer
Gunfire is getting more audible
I can see one cabin from our meadow
It's disturbing my comfort zone, but learning to live around it
I guess it is becoming a 'community'......shit

I s'pose it'll be a good thing as we age

When we first moved here, we 'hiked' to the nearest neighbors
Not so anymore

Four wheelers and ATVs are getting more common on the weekends

[Aunt Bea]

They are getting closer
Gunfire is getting more audible
I can see one cabin from our meadow
It's disturbing my comfort zone, but learning to live around it
I guess it is becoming a 'community'......shit

I s'pose it'll be a good thing as we age

It could be.

It could also be a pause in your journey to find the good life. Helen and Scott Nearing spent 20 years experimenting in Vermont before they finally moved to Maine. If you haven't read their books it's worth a google, they were very interesting people.

Good luck!

[Gary O']

It could be.

It could also be a pause in your journey to find the good life. Helen and Scott Nearing spent 20 years experimenting in Vermont before they finally moved to Maine. If you haven't read their books it's worth a google, they were very interesting people.

Good luck!

We have all their books
They were gods

We are eyeballing some land about 100 miles from us, higher in the mountains

but

Not so sure I have it in me to start over

Maybe a getaway from our getaway.....

[Meanderer]

...might be a repeat....but a good'n.

"Did management say you could go off the grid?"