Never thought retirement would be like this

[NancyNGA]

Couple lives off the grid in woods near Lake Superior

You certainly have a knack for posting things that make a person think. The cabin, and the canoes that couple built, are just beautiful.

Just for fun, I tried to seriously think about what life would be like the way they live. Building the cabin would be fun, but once that was done, daily life would be so routine, time consuming, and difficult. One would have to spend most of the day just to get and prepare food. No refrigerator in summer? Routine chores would take forever. No, I don't think I'd like it. Just give me a Big Mac, electricity, and running water.

Is that something you could do?

In fact, according to current neighbors, one of my previous neighbors out at the lake tried to build a large octagon-shaped cabin, with no electricity, hand hewn logs. He had some kind of home made water system rigged up on a creek. The piece of land had no road frontage, only right-of-way, to a public road. You could still see the remnants of the foundation and a couple of rows of logs, when I first bought my property. Another neighbor told me he eventually got into drugs and lost everything.

If I just wanted to get away, I'd move out to the lake. I could get interested in building roads and bridges over creeks, maybe more goats, building barns and sheds on the other side of the lake for them. Then each project would be different. Part of the fun is in the planning, imo. But the materials would come from Home Depot.

Truck is loaded with holly, covered, and ready to go tomorrow. Supposed to meet the engineer at 1pm.

 

[Meanderer]

No, I can't imagine living their lifestyle. They both yearned for and enjoyed the solitary life, before they met and married, so for them it was a natural fit. They are a team, and have each other. I don't know if one person could find the same results. Their friendship with the Ojibwa Indians, and bartering, was a big help I am sure. They fit in with the land. It would be interesting to learn more about their two adult Sons. I agree, "There's no place like Home....Depot"!

 

[NancyNGA]

They both yearned for and enjoyed the solitary life...

They sure found it! I believe it said they only made 2 large canoes a year. I can imagine it would be hard to find time, what with all the stuff you'd have to do just to survive. Oh well, to each his/her own.

The man showed up. He *is* with a small private engineering consultant company. Said the dam was in good shape. The contractor would mow and clear it, if I wanted. They can bypass a permit by calling it repair, and he would recommend that. The only problem with access might be if they have to take in a cement truck---to fill the old drain system. He gave a rough estimate of the cost of materials, which was in line with what I expected, and will get back in a couple of days with a detailed estimate. If the NRCS was correct, one 12" drain pipe, or two 8" pipes, will be needed. Large PVC pipes are unbelievably expensive!

I think I can recover the cost of this project in the sale price, if I decide to sell the place, because the lake looks pretty pitiful right now. A brand new siphon system would be a good thing.

Unless this man is on some kind of retainer, it looks like this job just might actually happen! {Fingers crossed}

Running around in midday sun, and then unloading the truck, I'm beat. I may just fall asleep now...and then stay up all night.

 

[NancyNGA]

How do so many large insects get in a house? Last winter the mobile home at the lake was invaded by lady bugs. They seem to get trapped in the bathtubs. In the early spring come the wasps, but not as many as the lady bugs. The doors are never open except when I come and go. Then come the summer insects, much smaller and different varieties.

I've enlisted two platoons of daddy longleg spiders out there to help this summer. They seem to be territorial and have spaced themselves out equally in the two bathrooms. All I have to do is sweep up the debris below each spider. I think they use the toilet for water, because they aren't in any other rooms, and one time I put rust dissolver in one toilet and wiped out the whole platoon. I'll be more careful and flush it all out next time.

Another heat spell here. Predicted highs: 97F, 98F, 98F (~36.5C) with high humidity for the next 3 days. I'm killing time inside until it cools off this evening. One final chunk of hedge to attack.
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[Meanderer]

 

[NancyNGA]

:lol: Great idea!

I found out daddy long legs can't do traditional style webs. They are not technically spiders. Maybe if there were a battalion of them, though....

(video better muted)

 

[Meanderer]

They're all watching "Spiderman"!

 

[NancyNGA]

Wonder how they ever get their legs untangled? I read they easily lose legs. It's a diversionary tactic. A predator grabs a leg and thinks it's all over. Meanwhile daddy is long gone.... nthego:

 

[NancyNGA]

"...do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Picture hedge with many vertical shoots, thick as table legs at shoulder height, 15 feet tall. Add honeysuckle vines growing up through them, binding all the tops together into one big knot. When one of these shoots is cut, it just dangles. No way to pull it down. Then add neighbor's new truck parked right on the other side of this mess. Thorns from falling branches might leave scuff marks in the paint.

Simple solution: Start cutting from my side, let them all dangle, and when you get to the last one, the whole thing comes crashing down on your head. Nothing can possibly fall the other way, onto the truck.

Didn't quite get finished because I ran out of daylight Wednesday, but getting there.

 

[Pappy]

Wonder how they ever get their legs untangled? I read they easily lose legs. It's a diversionary tactic. A predator grabs a leg and thinks it's all over. Meanwhile daddy is long gone.... nthego:

A Couple of interesting facts about daddy......

Luis Fernández García via Wikimedia Commons​

Yes, they’re arachnids, but they’re actually more closely related to scorpions than they are to spiders. They don’t produce silk, have just one pair of eyes, and have a fused body (unlike spiders, which have a narrow “waist” between their front and rear).
[h=4]2. ...AND THEY’RE NOT VENOMOUS.[/h]That thing you heard at summer camp about daddy longlegs being the most poisonous creature in the world, but with fangs too weak to bite you? Not true. They don't even have fangs, and they can't make venom, either. According to Clouse, the rumor might have gotten started during “the retelling by an American tabloid of a study in Australia on the venom of a daddy longlegs there; the problem is that in Australia, ‘daddy longlegs’ refers to a type of spider,” also known as the cellar spider. And, if that's not confusing enough, there's another creature that sometimes goes by the name daddy longlegs: The crane fly.

 

[NancyNGA]

Thanks Pappy. Here are their eyes, on each side of a little tower-like structure, mounted on top of the body...

"Here's lookin' at you, kid..."

 

[Meanderer]

15 Fascinating Facts About Daddy Longlegs

“We know from a very well preserved fossil of a daddy longlegs from Scotland that they are at least 400 million years old,” Clouse says. “This fossil actually looks a lot like the long-legged species we see today. It is believed daddy longlegs split off from scorpions, which were becoming terrestrial about 435 million years ago. To put this in perspective, this is about 200 million years before dinosaurs appeared, which were only around for about 165 million years.”

 

[NancyNGA]

An old wives tale was killed tonight because of your post, Jim.

Some of my bugs dangle from something in corners. I always thought cobwebs were dangling strings of dust that collected due to static electricity in a dry house, but apparently there is no such thing! They are old spider webs most likely produced by common house spiders.

They must have eaten the house spiders and stolen their webs. That is good, but do they just sit around and wait all day for something to walk by? That is not very efficient. Maybe I should trade them back for house spiders.

Also... I finally have an idea now for a new light fixture over the kitchen table:

Tonight::chores: the front lawn and did a tiny bit more hedge, but the weather is making it too easy to procrastinate. Predicted high tomorrow, 101F (38.3C).

 

[Meanderer]

Nancy, my grandmother always used the term "Irish lace"to describe cobwebs. They were a sign of good luck!

 

[NancyNGA]

Irish lace made using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique. Exhibited at the Royal Dublin Society Craft Competition 2010, 1st Prize Lace

Spider web shoe lacing.

Just noticed this evening that someone ran off the road and knocked down the wooden mailbox post out at the lake. I've stopped all mail but I think a house street number is required at the road because of 911. It only got to 100F today. (not)

Too tired to type, only to post pictures.

 

[Meanderer]

Go for it!

 

[NancyNGA]

That mailbox is so cute. I want one. If you leave the door open the wrens will nest in it.

 

[Meanderer]

Nancy, do you think that your mailbox was an isolated incident, or an act of vandalism? I sure hope it wasn't the latter.

 

[Pappy]

Nancy. I found the perfect sign for your frog pond.

 

[NancyNGA]

Nancy, do you think that your mailbox was an isolated incident, or an act of vandalism? I sure hope it wasn't the latter.

Isolated. It was a solid 4x4 post broken off at the ground. You could see the tire tracks on the side of the road. Post was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, unless it was a suicide mission.

 

[NancyNGA]

Nothing has been happening because of the weather---first extreme heat, then on and off thundershowers, but we need the rain so it's good. I ran across this picture on my pc files last night.

These are four pieces from of a complete set of china. The rest of the set is up in my attic. It reminded me of a little story, and I was feeling playful again last night.

Please Play this short video first to put you in the mood: :grin:

On one weekend trip to my grandparents' log cabin in Ohio, my grandmother took us cousins on a long hike down a dirt road that ran along the edge of their property and beyond. I must have been no older than 10, which would make it the 1950's. We turned onto a stone paved driveway, overgrown with tall weeds between the stones, that curved down a hill into the woods. Why I remember the weeds, I don't know. Kids remember the stupidest things.

At the end of this very long driveway was another cabin in the midst of a small area of planted pines. If the pine needles are never removed, the ground under pines becomes covered with a pinkish brown bed of straw and there is no undergrowth. It is quite impressive the first time you see it, so I remember that, too.

She called it Smith's cabin. It was a newer style 2-story building with a loft/balcony all around the inside. It appeared no one had been there for years. We thought this was so cool---that a grownup would encourage us to peek in windows. Then we all headed off into the woods from there and came out in the backyard of my grandmother's cabin. This little trip was kind of mysterious and magical to us kids. We had no clue where we were at any given time. Just follow Grandma.

Fast forward about 30 years. Just before my grandmother died, she decided she wanted me to have that set of china. My parents brought it down here from Ohio in three heavy boxes. I always wondered how long my grandmother had it, and where she got it, but never asked. A couple months before my mother died last year, I asked her and she said, "Oh, my sister and her husband stole that out of Smith's cabin many years ago."

..........

YIKES!!!

Did she know what she was talking about? My mother and her sister never got along. She might have imagined it. Who would steal several boxes of heavy stuff and carry them through the woods? My grandmother might peek in windows, but she was not the type to condone stealing things. All the people who would know about this are now dead. I wish I hadn't asked.

There is no statute of limitations on stolen property. The land the cabin is on is registered in another person's name now. I don't think the china is worth much. Ironic because I was so upset when people broke into our cabin and stole things, and keep fussing about trespassers.

So now I may be in the possession of both stolen property, and a pistol that may have been used in a mafia hit (previous post). :eewwk:

 

[NancyNGA]

Not making much progress outside lately. It's either really hot or raining. Here are the predicted temps for the next 10 days, with humidity well above 50% most days. Average high temp for here in all of July is 91F.

........

Power was out for 4.5 hours last night due to a tiny little thunderstorm. Every thunderstorm results in some sort of power interruption because everyone wants lots of trees in their yards in town here.

There is just one bush left on my hedge. It is hopelessly tangled in a cedar tree, and will require a ladder and saw. At least the new electric loppers are safe up on a ladder. My new schedule is to just do the minimum---take care of the goats and mow the lawn---until this heat wave ends. May not finish this job any time soon. On the other hand, just saying this in writing may make me put in a little extra effort and get it done anyway. Ha!

This doesn't really upset me as much as it might sound, because I have an excuse now, but I did want to do a little more work around the lake this summer.

 

[NancyNGA]

Went outside and realized the neighbors had taken off for the weekend and it was only 92F. Might never get a better chance.

Got the last holly bush cut off and pulled down out of the tree. Had to use the trim saw. The limbs from the front half of the tree were already cut off by the tree removers because of interference with the satellite dish. Will try to take down that tree, limb by limb, gradually, eventually.

Hedge looks pretty ragged now, but I'm not going to cut back any more this summer. Too much cutting in the heat might kill some of them. It will look good by next spring.

This is the way it looked before I started all this.

　

 

[SeaBreeze]

I liked your story and video Nancy. Maybe if your mother never got along with her she was just fibbing about the China, pretty set, I'd research what it's worth and sell it....so much for sentimentality. All the outdoor work you do makes my yard work look like child's play....don't know how you do it all without getting hurt, you're a smart gal!

 

[NancyNGA]

Things like this bug me.

I got out last evening and saw this dangling holly limb in the cedar tree. Determined to get it down, I got the ladder out again and cut every limb I could reach that was interfering, using every cutting tool I had, except the trim saw. Nothing worked. Even thought about grabbing it and doing a Tarzan swing, but I don't think that would have worked either.

The tree is a complete mess anyway, so why does that one branch bother me?

Now I have another yard full of cedar branches to haul off.

Btw, I don't like to work in the morning, even if I were a morning person, because the humidity is usually up around 90% in the morning and everything is covered with dew.