Meanderer
Supreme Member
What a great picture, Gary! One of my better finds at our local Good Will store was the framed photo of a Golden Eagle, by John Eveland.
Our version of retirement: Living a childhood dream
- Thread starter Gary O'
- Start date
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
Pure enjoyment of life to the fullest.
I love it.
I live in town in an apartment. I love to ride my bike somewhere and just get away to the forest and peace. The silence is what I like.
I love it.
I live in town in an apartment. I love to ride my bike somewhere and just get away to the forest and peace. The silence is what I like.
Working on the third year out here
Never been a bad day
got to -38F in the dead of winter
but just a few days like that
mostly a steady 20F
ya git used to it, start wearin' T shirts at 30F
thank you, Camper6
I believe you know what I'm talkin' about
Never been a bad day
got to -38F in the dead of winter
but just a few days like that
mostly a steady 20F
ya git used to it, start wearin' T shirts at 30F
thank you, Camper6
I believe you know what I'm talkin' about
Meanderer
Supreme Member
Hey, Gary, how are you doing? Here's a link on Aging-Off-grid. Not sure if they're geese or chickens flying that thing?
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
Gary I just love your cabin! I also admire your hard work and outlook on life. Thanks for letting me peek inside.
merlin
Member
- Location
- Saint Petersburg Russia
Great thread Gary love your cabin and your lifestyle thanks!!
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
WOW!!! this is a fabulous thread....I love your story...and your pictures are fantastic... thanks very much for sharing, I'm really enjoying this thread
Thank you all fine people, for the kind words.
I’ve been a tad busy remodeling the pump house, putting a roof on the RV, re-thinking garden protection structures, and piling up the last of the wood, but come this winter I’ll nestle in and bang away at the keyboard.
It’d puzzled me too as to how we’d communicate out here with the rest of the world, but dang, technology has come a ways.
We have a little device called a jetpack from the Verizon folks.
It grabs a signal from the nearest microwave tower, and, well, here I am.
Had some folks over that remarked ‘yer not 100% off grid with that thing’
I said ‘well, OK but it won’t stay charged for long without the genny runnin’ awhile…
Guess they are some sorta off grid purists
Don’t know
Don’t care
I really don’t care to be off grid
I’d love all the power I need at my fingertips
But
Can’t
Anyway,‘nough a that, sat back the other day and took a few pics;
Did a little pictorial of some builds and when sitting to open the pics that evening noticed our first Pine Siskin of the season.
and my usual pics of my little buddies, the Golden Mantles;
I imagine they're called 'golden mantles' because they've got those golden mantles around their necks;
Righ there I need to mention I’ve come a mind to be more cognizant of my surroundings in my old age since I’ve missed a lot
a
lot
All my life I’ve been focused on the task at hand
Made a good ‘grunt’, I s’pose
My superior wants sumpm done, it gets done
Now
No deviation
Wired that way
Don’t want it done…don’t turn me loose
Now?
Trying my darnedest to unwind
Savor the moment
Look around
My creator mentioned in Exodus it’d be good to rest ever seven
I do that now
Set aside my tools
Lock up the shop
Pay attention to the wonders of this orb, and the beauty of my woman of almost fifty years
It works
Happy
Content
I’ll be back
Got more to say
But
right now, so much more to do
the outside calls me
and that's where I'll be...right after this second cup
Y’all keep a fire
...one day (soon I hope) I'll learn the fine art of handling the format of this site, and the words will no longer jamb together and the font will be of the size one can read without the aid of a magnifying glass.
but
gotta be outside
right now
cheers
but
gotta be outside
right now
cheers
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
Loved your photos ... keep posting; looking forward to more. :applause2:
Look to be trying to pile up money while doing so...Hey, Gary, how are you doing? Here's a link on Aging-Off-grid. Not sure if they're geese or chickens flying that thing?
They want fifteen bucks
Cute 'toon
drifter
Well-known Member
You are to be admired for your efforts and your lifestyle. Place photo number six in "I Know A Place," on the outskirts any small town, on a small triangular lot, plant a few scrub mesquite trees out front, all on the wrong side of the tracts, and it would look like the place where I grew up. Not that my comments amounts to a hill of beans, but I do like what I read here.
Last edited:
Gary, you seem to have it "all together" and living your dream! Married 50 years? Wow, that speaks volumes. It will be 48 years for us this year. We have chipmunks here but they are some what annoying because they dig holes in my flower beds and seem to tunnel everywhere! But they are cute little fellas! I keep telling myself, it is just the scheme of things in nature!
Gary, you seem to have it "alltogether"
Far from it, but
I can see it…sometimes touch it
Thing is, winter here will humble the stoutest of souls
Wind at 40 below will cut ya, even a gentle breeze will rip yer face off
The wind, sometimes up to 80 mph, can blow a tree onto the cabin you just built
Wildfire is something one accepts around here
Turns this pure mountain air into smoke filled hell
We are in a punch bowl in the shadow of Crater Lake
Wind comes from all directions
One prepares best they can to give one a chance
‘Married 50 years? Wow, that speaks volumes. It will be 48 years for us this year.’
Most folks here would agree medals s/be handed out at the grandest of ceremonies for those with longevity to their relationships.
My lady and I have a yin yang thing that has survived many a difficulty, including tending a schizophrenic son.
‘have it all together’?
Just doing our best to hang on to some of ‘it’
...and cherish it
It’s work
Not telling anyone here anything new
We all have our bags of dross
‘You are for be admired for your effortsand your lifestyle. Place photo number six in "I Know A Place," onthe outskirts any small town, on a small triangular lot, plant a few scrub mesquite trees out front, all on the wrong side of the tracts, and it would look like the place where I grew up. Not that my comments amounts to a hill of beans, but I do like what I read here.’
Drifter, you know the price of a hill of beans these days?
Just doing my best to provide a sorta oasis of some good things while up top.
Lord knows meanness and hatred don’t need no help in circling our little globe.
Seems it’s a profound example of perpetual motion…
Y’all keep a fire
and thank you so much for the very kind words (they become contagious)
Far from it, but
I can see it…sometimes touch it
Thing is, winter here will humble the stoutest of souls
Wind at 40 below will cut ya, even a gentle breeze will rip yer face off
The wind, sometimes up to 80 mph, can blow a tree onto the cabin you just built
Wildfire is something one accepts around here
Turns this pure mountain air into smoke filled hell
We are in a punch bowl in the shadow of Crater Lake
Wind comes from all directions
One prepares best they can to give one a chance
‘Married 50 years? Wow, that speaks volumes. It will be 48 years for us this year.’
Most folks here would agree medals s/be handed out at the grandest of ceremonies for those with longevity to their relationships.
My lady and I have a yin yang thing that has survived many a difficulty, including tending a schizophrenic son.
‘have it all together’?
Just doing our best to hang on to some of ‘it’
...and cherish it
It’s work
Not telling anyone here anything new
We all have our bags of dross
‘You are for be admired for your effortsand your lifestyle. Place photo number six in "I Know A Place," onthe outskirts any small town, on a small triangular lot, plant a few scrub mesquite trees out front, all on the wrong side of the tracts, and it would look like the place where I grew up. Not that my comments amounts to a hill of beans, but I do like what I read here.’
Drifter, you know the price of a hill of beans these days?
Just doing my best to provide a sorta oasis of some good things while up top.
Lord knows meanness and hatred don’t need no help in circling our little globe.
Seems it’s a profound example of perpetual motion…
Y’all keep a fire
and thank you so much for the very kind words (they become contagious)
Meanderer
Supreme Member
'The Reckoning' by Me
…I reckon it’s time to beckon for the check…at the Beanery. Recognize that sometimes…things just don’t add up…in our eyes …reckon I might just run out….of fingers to count with. Can I wash a dish?
…I reckon I will recline…awhile, and figure out what lumber…we will need. I recommend a plan…of action, when we build…as members of the guild. My reckoning fails…when calculating how many nails.
…nor, did I reckon I would recite….half the night, on the price of oil. A drop here…a drop there, I recoil at the viscosity of oil. The tin-man made out OK…in his own way…I reckon …he had the heart for it.
…I reckon that “90% of this job is half the battle”…I know…Casey said so…I reckon. A recipe is calling…at the Beanery…I reckon I will recede to a table…while I am able, and write on….a napkin….or two.
Something I writ a year or so ago, and added notes back in March;
Tedious things
or
What we do with you know what;
This is what I learned from a guy down the path that had been composting his family of five's 'stuff' for six years.
Build a bin
Approx four feet cubed
Posts in the corners and 3-4 inch wide by half inch thick boards
2-3 inch spacing
Initially leave one side open with one or two boards at the bottom.
Start with a generous layer of pine needles or the like.
A layer of straw on top of that does not hurt.
Empty your pail of you know what, including TP, and well...pee.
(no wipes, won't break down)
Pine needles and straw on top of that, about 2-3 inches.
Add boards as needed.
If you experience an odor, add more straw and needles.
(if you experience an odor after saaay a foot of pine needles and straw, change your dining habits or see a doctor)
Once the bin is full, proceed to the next bin and start the process anew.
Let the first bin 'rest' for 12 months.
Happy birthday, you now have compost.
Somebody told me to never mix in the urine, or I’ll learn the hard way
About the urine;
This 'compost' will not go into our garden.
Bushes, shrubs, maybe trees, if anything.
My intent is to just break down the 'stuff'.
So, the explanation of 'learning the hard way' prolly doesn't apply in our case.
I'm just getting somewhat weary of spending a goodly portion of whatever is left of my precious time here on irth boiling poopoo.
At first it was fascinating.
The lighting ceremony.
Stirring the caldron.
Tossing on more...and more.....and more fuel.
Not sure when tedium recognition took place, but, by end of winter the allure had transmuted to some kinda sordid monotony.
This led me to the quick and easy aspect of composting.
But
to extract urine from the other stuff, or to somehow divert the stream 'tween urges?
Not bloody likely.
Then again, if we were to be so bold as to use our loo-made urineized compost in our veggie garden after a year of resting, well, those fine neighbors down the path have been doing it for years now and they seem normal.....good color, no hair loss, good muscle tone....minimal itching....
But, like most aspects of living off grid, the very real things, procedures of day to day life, get rather nitty gritty.
None of it can be diverted or in some cases postponed.
This ain't Disney out here.
Even the simple task of bathing can be an adventure, especially in winter.
Back on topic;
I've never been a member of the white toilet bowl society, nor a proponent of the decorative hand towel display.
The one so ornate one is given to wiping their hands on their pants or flapping them dry to avert messing up the obvious feng shui of accoutremental aura.
Thing is, most of us, when on city water, never give where things go a second thought.
The only concern is when the water keeps running after flushing, causing your water bill to compete with your electric.
It's either accepting the fact that you must train all family members how to successfully jiggle the handle, busying yourself by looking at your facial flaws in the mirror until the water does in fact quit running, or just standing there, staring at the swirling eddy in the bowl, daring it to keep running,
or,
eventually lifting the tank lid, reaching into that mystical area and fixing the darn thing, feeling a bit heroic, showing everyone that you, you are the master of the house, you got this.
But,
When the outhouse becomes the facility, whatever you ingested just hours ago eventually becomes an ever present, heaping menace.
And the question looms, what on earth do we do with this, this festering mound of blind eels?
Having mastered cleansing these aging vessels of ours, and maintaining a controlled command of the laundry, especially thru the winter months, we are on task to turn these flourishing keester cakes into a form of harmless humus, of which we can merrily cast forth, back to muther irth...where it belongs.
Seems our society has taken the unglamorous facets of living and, for the most part, hidden them.
I mean how many of us (sans septic tanks) know where sewage goes?
Oh sure, we see the treatment plants, and have read about how everything gets converted to biodegradable glop,
but what about the really horrible stuff?
I do believe it's good...'xcuse me, necessary to git yer hands in it, see it, learn how to give it back to muther irth in a relative form of whence it came.
Same with garbage, another topic, but the same thing.
Some societies have no garbage, yet we (most of us) feel just fine about putting anything undesirable in a can because once a week a large noisy truck makes it all disappear.
I have too simple (lazy) of a mind to get into all this, but even us simple guys can take heed and comply with the nature...natural process of things.
Fresh notes on this;
Winter 2017
It snows here, lots
The compost bin is many paces from the cabin
I chose to devote my snow trekking energy to drawing water....many paces from the cabin.
So,
Back to burning
What I came to learn last winter was it takes considerable time to tend the barrel.
As much fun as churning the cauldron seems, it’s not one of my favorite pastimes.
This, our second year, I stayed on top of everything.
Water
Wood
Propane
Gas
Diesel
Food
Small building supplies, nails, screws, brackets
All stocked
All the time
No surprises
Winter has its own surprises, so it’s best to keep the odds of getting in abind to a minimum.
Give yerself a running chance.
I incorporated poopail duty into my aggressive maintenance schedule.
Turns out, less burns quicker.
Every other day is around a quarter pail of moist paper, pine needles at the bottom, and eight meals worth of mud bunnies.
We gathered four pails of pine needles back in the fall.
Best ever at layering the bucket.
Much much better than sawdust.
Worried four pails wouldn’t be enough.
We have two pails left, and it’s, what, March?
Anyway, I’ll twist the old ashes with a farmer’s fork,
pour a cup of diesel/gas/used oil mix
fetch the bucket
dump it in the barrel
(temps at 0°F and below require the tapping of a hammer near the bottom of a tipped bucket)
twist that a bit with the fork
or, at low temps, poke heck outa it with the farmer’s fork
pour a generous amount of the volatile cocktail (2-3 cups…a tin can’s worth)
twist a sheet of newspaper, soak the end
light it
flick it into the barrel
run light heck, screaming FIRE! FIRE!
Jus’ kidding
Put the screen on
And go about yer other business for 20 minutes
Note;
If, for some reason, the barrel does not go ‘whoooosh!’
Do NOT! hang yer face over it to determine the matter
(...another thing I came to learn)
Jus’ do the pour, paper routine again
Best to treat the barrel like poking a cornered puma during this procedure.
Synopsis;
It takes around an hour to reduce raw alley apples into powder of grey poupon
when tending ever 20 minutes
Bon marché
Tedious things
or
What we do with you know what;
This is what I learned from a guy down the path that had been composting his family of five's 'stuff' for six years.
Build a bin
Approx four feet cubed
Posts in the corners and 3-4 inch wide by half inch thick boards
2-3 inch spacing
Initially leave one side open with one or two boards at the bottom.
Start with a generous layer of pine needles or the like.
A layer of straw on top of that does not hurt.
Empty your pail of you know what, including TP, and well...pee.
(no wipes, won't break down)
Pine needles and straw on top of that, about 2-3 inches.
Add boards as needed.
If you experience an odor, add more straw and needles.
(if you experience an odor after saaay a foot of pine needles and straw, change your dining habits or see a doctor)
Once the bin is full, proceed to the next bin and start the process anew.
Let the first bin 'rest' for 12 months.
Happy birthday, you now have compost.
Somebody told me to never mix in the urine, or I’ll learn the hard way
About the urine;
This 'compost' will not go into our garden.
Bushes, shrubs, maybe trees, if anything.
My intent is to just break down the 'stuff'.
So, the explanation of 'learning the hard way' prolly doesn't apply in our case.
I'm just getting somewhat weary of spending a goodly portion of whatever is left of my precious time here on irth boiling poopoo.
At first it was fascinating.
The lighting ceremony.
Stirring the caldron.
Tossing on more...and more.....and more fuel.
Not sure when tedium recognition took place, but, by end of winter the allure had transmuted to some kinda sordid monotony.
This led me to the quick and easy aspect of composting.
But
to extract urine from the other stuff, or to somehow divert the stream 'tween urges?
Not bloody likely.
Then again, if we were to be so bold as to use our loo-made urineized compost in our veggie garden after a year of resting, well, those fine neighbors down the path have been doing it for years now and they seem normal.....good color, no hair loss, good muscle tone....minimal itching....
But, like most aspects of living off grid, the very real things, procedures of day to day life, get rather nitty gritty.
None of it can be diverted or in some cases postponed.
This ain't Disney out here.
Even the simple task of bathing can be an adventure, especially in winter.
Back on topic;
I've never been a member of the white toilet bowl society, nor a proponent of the decorative hand towel display.
The one so ornate one is given to wiping their hands on their pants or flapping them dry to avert messing up the obvious feng shui of accoutremental aura.
Thing is, most of us, when on city water, never give where things go a second thought.
The only concern is when the water keeps running after flushing, causing your water bill to compete with your electric.
It's either accepting the fact that you must train all family members how to successfully jiggle the handle, busying yourself by looking at your facial flaws in the mirror until the water does in fact quit running, or just standing there, staring at the swirling eddy in the bowl, daring it to keep running,
or,
eventually lifting the tank lid, reaching into that mystical area and fixing the darn thing, feeling a bit heroic, showing everyone that you, you are the master of the house, you got this.
But,
When the outhouse becomes the facility, whatever you ingested just hours ago eventually becomes an ever present, heaping menace.
And the question looms, what on earth do we do with this, this festering mound of blind eels?
Having mastered cleansing these aging vessels of ours, and maintaining a controlled command of the laundry, especially thru the winter months, we are on task to turn these flourishing keester cakes into a form of harmless humus, of which we can merrily cast forth, back to muther irth...where it belongs.
Seems our society has taken the unglamorous facets of living and, for the most part, hidden them.
I mean how many of us (sans septic tanks) know where sewage goes?
Oh sure, we see the treatment plants, and have read about how everything gets converted to biodegradable glop,
but what about the really horrible stuff?
I do believe it's good...'xcuse me, necessary to git yer hands in it, see it, learn how to give it back to muther irth in a relative form of whence it came.
Same with garbage, another topic, but the same thing.
Some societies have no garbage, yet we (most of us) feel just fine about putting anything undesirable in a can because once a week a large noisy truck makes it all disappear.
I have too simple (lazy) of a mind to get into all this, but even us simple guys can take heed and comply with the nature...natural process of things.
Fresh notes on this;
Winter 2017
It snows here, lots
The compost bin is many paces from the cabin
I chose to devote my snow trekking energy to drawing water....many paces from the cabin.
So,
Back to burning
What I came to learn last winter was it takes considerable time to tend the barrel.
As much fun as churning the cauldron seems, it’s not one of my favorite pastimes.
This, our second year, I stayed on top of everything.
Water
Wood
Propane
Gas
Diesel
Food
Small building supplies, nails, screws, brackets
All stocked
All the time
No surprises
Winter has its own surprises, so it’s best to keep the odds of getting in abind to a minimum.
Give yerself a running chance.
I incorporated poopail duty into my aggressive maintenance schedule.
Turns out, less burns quicker.
Every other day is around a quarter pail of moist paper, pine needles at the bottom, and eight meals worth of mud bunnies.
We gathered four pails of pine needles back in the fall.
Best ever at layering the bucket.
Much much better than sawdust.
Worried four pails wouldn’t be enough.
We have two pails left, and it’s, what, March?
Anyway, I’ll twist the old ashes with a farmer’s fork,
pour a cup of diesel/gas/used oil mix
fetch the bucket
dump it in the barrel
(temps at 0°F and below require the tapping of a hammer near the bottom of a tipped bucket)
twist that a bit with the fork
or, at low temps, poke heck outa it with the farmer’s fork
pour a generous amount of the volatile cocktail (2-3 cups…a tin can’s worth)
twist a sheet of newspaper, soak the end
light it
flick it into the barrel
run light heck, screaming FIRE! FIRE!
Jus’ kidding
Put the screen on
And go about yer other business for 20 minutes
Note;
If, for some reason, the barrel does not go ‘whoooosh!’
Do NOT! hang yer face over it to determine the matter
(...another thing I came to learn)
Jus’ do the pour, paper routine again
Best to treat the barrel like poking a cornered puma during this procedure.
Synopsis;
It takes around an hour to reduce raw alley apples into powder of grey poupon
when tending ever 20 minutes
Bon marché
Got up at 3 this morn
Because?
heh
We can
(this retirement gig freaking ROCKS!)
Thought, while up, I’d show off what we’ve grown in spite of the climate.
In the 90s midday
In the 20s midnight
Anyway
Our ‘maters may just be green ones this year
But
My lady will blend ‘em into something delicious and nutritious in her nutria-bullet
Squash is fighting to get free of the screen mesh
Greens, mostly kale and spinach, are feeding us now
We are doing what we can to keep deer from our saplings (cherry and apple trees)
That weird looking tall thing is called mullein
Or
Cowboy toilet paper
Grows like crazy out here
The leaves are quite soft
And absorbent
They also make a nice tea, soothing to the throat
The flowers make a good cough syrup
Just a note here…
I’m not a prepper or survivalist.
If the SHTF we might do OK for an extra week or so.
However, it’s a nice feeling to be a bit in control of one’s living routine.
My lady and I jest about it some mornings.
‘Best git to it, it don’t seem to be doing it by itself’
Or
‘Well, nobody’s gonna doit for ya’
We chuckle
Then
Git to work
Rather accidently, we discovered not depending on the gid or any utilities for that matter, things are at one’s fingertips, not miles away at some huge humming industrial complex.
We don’t sit here, blinking in the dark, wondering, when there’s a grid failure, or puzzle over how to wash or prepare dinner when city water decides to shut ‘er down for a bit due to some unforeseen event.
It’s a different…nice feeling
Well, gonna slip back into the pillow top
Love the second sleep
Ya’ll keep a fire
Because?
heh
We can
(this retirement gig freaking ROCKS!)
Thought, while up, I’d show off what we’ve grown in spite of the climate.
In the 90s midday
In the 20s midnight
Anyway
Our ‘maters may just be green ones this year
But
My lady will blend ‘em into something delicious and nutritious in her nutria-bullet
Squash is fighting to get free of the screen mesh
Greens, mostly kale and spinach, are feeding us now
We are doing what we can to keep deer from our saplings (cherry and apple trees)
That weird looking tall thing is called mullein
Or
Cowboy toilet paper
Grows like crazy out here
The leaves are quite soft
And absorbent
They also make a nice tea, soothing to the throat
The flowers make a good cough syrup
Just a note here…
I’m not a prepper or survivalist.
If the SHTF we might do OK for an extra week or so.
However, it’s a nice feeling to be a bit in control of one’s living routine.
My lady and I jest about it some mornings.
‘Best git to it, it don’t seem to be doing it by itself’
Or
‘Well, nobody’s gonna doit for ya’
We chuckle
Then
Git to work
Rather accidently, we discovered not depending on the gid or any utilities for that matter, things are at one’s fingertips, not miles away at some huge humming industrial complex.
We don’t sit here, blinking in the dark, wondering, when there’s a grid failure, or puzzle over how to wash or prepare dinner when city water decides to shut ‘er down for a bit due to some unforeseen event.
It’s a different…nice feeling
Well, gonna slip back into the pillow top
Love the second sleep
Ya’ll keep a fire
Last edited:
Finally got some clear skys
A bit of reprieve from the wildfires
Not unhappy about it (sigh…breathe)
Back to our necessary necessities;
Built this ‘Loo’ back in the aught years.
Took about an hour
Funny what one can do with scraps when needing the facility hours before
Was just tired of trudging off to the forest edge with a shovel
The foam was added midway thru the first winter after finding one’s hind end can actually freeze to an icy surface
Anyway, it’s a simple edifice that’s lasted over a decade
we argued over color
settled on camo
can hardly see it now...
I installed the door knocker (towel holder) for guests
Reminded me of Scrooge’s door when I saw it in a scrap pile
A bit of reprieve from the wildfires
Not unhappy about it (sigh…breathe)
Back to our necessary necessities;
Built this ‘Loo’ back in the aught years.
Took about an hour
Funny what one can do with scraps when needing the facility hours before
Was just tired of trudging off to the forest edge with a shovel
The foam was added midway thru the first winter after finding one’s hind end can actually freeze to an icy surface
Anyway, it’s a simple edifice that’s lasted over a decade
we argued over color
settled on camo
can hardly see it now...
I installed the door knocker (towel holder) for guests
Reminded me of Scrooge’s door when I saw it in a scrap pile
