It must be Spring

Ahh, it is that time of year again - Grounds Maintenance!

There has been plenty of rain this spring, which means the driveway and the field look like one.
I have been giving the driveway an annual spray with herbicide. Last year I used a 1 gallon sprayer and Ortho GroundClear 2 gal. Concentrate Vegetation Killer. The herbicide worked great, but the single gallon sprayer was foolish - fill, pump, lift,  spray for 10 seconds, set down, pump, repeat. As I'm sure many of you remember, this driveway is over 600 feet long. It took days to do the entire driveway this way.
This year I bought a better pump - a Chapin 61700N SureSpray Deluxe Backpack Poly Sprayer, 4-Gallon, and a different herbicide - I had forgotten I had used Ortho, and instead bought Roundup 32 oz. Concentrate Extended Control Weed and Grass Killer Plus Weed Preventer. I know, supporting the devil, but the job was done before I remembered. The Roundup only promises 4 months, and the Ortho promised 12 months. With winters up here I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes, but we shall see.

Last year I also sprung and bought a Toro 2-Cycle 25.4 cc Curved Shaft Gas Trimmer - this allowed me to trim out both sides of the driveway in near record time. Okay, it was record time - it only took 3 days of fighting 3' high grass, as compared to weeks using the scythe. As much as I love using the scythe (and I really do), getting the driveway DONE was a real pleasure.

And remember the last post about being able to count on rain? Yep, another rainy year - back to Mudfest! Last year was a break, but the year before... ugh.

A local business delivered 5 cubic yards of mulch, so I spent some time trying to change the texture of the trail.

Before:

 

After:

 

Didn't get it all done, but simple enough to do. Now if would just stop raining so I could enjoy it!

rain water collection

A good thing about the North East is rain - we seem to get plenty of it.
Over the years I have been successfully installing rainwater collection systems - gutters and drains that lead to a 55 gallon drum with two spigots - one for draining and one for overflow. I have done this to the shed and the outhouse, and this year the studio.

 The studio roof is roughly 12' by 16', so I will be able to harvest more water than I will ever need. I had bought gutters to put on the cabin, but realized the maintenance of gutters 22' off the ground would be difficult, if not impossible.

 I attached the down spout to the rear wall and pitched it into 55 gallon drum. The drum was used for tomato paste, and I buy the empty drums from a tomato sauce factory near by. Yes, there is such a thing as a tomato sauce factory. The picture doesn't show the lid, but I cut an opening and lined it with mosquito netting - I'll take a picture on the next visit.

 

 The height is new for me - this is 4' off the ground. I built it with four 4" by 4" lengths of pressure treated lumber, capped with 1" by 6" pressure treated lumber on both the top and bottom. 

Why four feet off the ground? To pipe into the sink of course!

everybody needs a sink!

The sink is attached to a drainpipe that is about 15' long and connected to T junction with 10' of drilled pipe. My hope is that this will spread the water out.
So now I wait. I have been busy working downstate, but have heard of mighty rains this Spring - I will see if this is successful on the next trip up.

The cabin on a glorious spring morning May, 2013

the view from the cabin, early spring 2013

New Years visit

We made a quick visit to the oasis on New Years. Unlike last year, we needed snowshoes to reach the site. About a foot of snow had fallen two nights before.

The snow showed signs of someone walking their dog along the drive, but they don't go beyond the fence.

There were animal tracks everywhere - I could ID rabbit, deer, and dog, but I think there were a few other animals out there too.

MJ's studio is holding up well...

As is the cabin...

Note the 'snow hole' giving access to below the deck. MJ said she saw something shoot away as we walked by - about the size of a cat; all she saw was the tail. It was so fast she couldn't ID beyond that. (At least she saw it, more than I can say!)

Always lovely to visit, but too cold to stay!

The lovely loo during an awesome autumn

After  too long a time, we got to return to the cabin. In the seven weeks since our last visit, the seasons had changed, and fall was waiting for us in all her splendor. Due to our little micro-climate - we had full foliage before the rest of the area - so our view out the window was resplendent with the golds, oranges and reds of fall.

.

There wasn't much on the agenda; for the first time in a long time we went there with the idea of simply relaxing and communing with nature.
There was one thing on someones mind though - an indoor outhouse. Yes, a place to poo, a defining location to defecate, a veritable piss palace if you would.Hmm, any other tacky toilet expressions?

Okay, now that I got my junior high school hi-jinks done, we installed a "loveable loo." We built our own and you can get directions or buy a kit from here. 

It is a simple box with a 5 gallon bucket inside; simply add sawdust as you go. Everyone on-line said there would be no stink, and they were right! We have a very small, well insulated cabin with no drafts, and the most we smelled was the fresh pine sawdust, which we got from a sawmill down the road.

Even though we have been married for decades, privacy on some matters is still put at a premium. We slid a simple OSB cover blocking the view between the ladder treads, and we hung a hammock as a temporary curtain.

The completed loo sort of reminds me of a playhouse I had under the basement stairs growing up, except as a kid I had a periscope and no loo. After 2 days it was time to dump the sawdust. We made a spot far away and off the trails. Even though you can make compost with this, we are going to pass.

intermediary deck

The deck building continued...
There is a 44" difference in height between the north deck and the west deck. I wanted to break up the mass of wood or stairs between the two, so I placed this deck at a middle height between the two. Here are some pictures.

there you have it - I think I did OK!

MJ's Studio

Something I have been working on since last fall - completed in time for MJ's move on July 1.
I posted a low rez video if you want a two minute version.

March:

The piers were installed last October when the equipment was on site. The other lumber came in March, when the ground was frozen but there was no snow.

Made quick work of installing the platform - buying the cordless nail gun was the best thing I have ever done!

Getting ready to cover up for the night...

And a good thing - it snowed overnight!

May:

Returned to see if everything survived. This is the window we found on 5th St. We like it for the size and for the guard dog that came with it.

Whipped through the framing - have nail gun will travel!

Here's the window with guard dog installed and ready to protect MJ from anything that goes bump in the night.

The framing, some walls and part of the roof installed - lots done in May!

June:
Onward towards completion. I kept building; one shoe in front of another. I have learned so much since the first cabin! The only major error was that I miscounted the roofing material. Each panel is 26" wide, but after overlapping each other it is closer to 20." This meant that I was short one piece. I had to wait till we had a van to carry the 12' piece to the site. 

Measuring for the door was another error. I only left 3/16th of an inch extra in width. that was not enough. Plus, I went crazy with the nail gun, so removing the over nailed stud was extremely difficult.

I'm very happy with how the roofing has worked out, although it is too bright and too hot even though the roof faces North. We will be adding shading and venting.

Painted floor - almost ready for the move.

July:
MJ getting comfortable in her new space. 

 

Some notes: I spent extra time to make tight cuts around the rafters & I caulked everywhere. Hopefully this will keep the majority of bugs out. Our very first shed has become wasp central, partly because of enormous gaps I left in the structure. For the week we were there after I was done caulking there was not one bug inside this space.

And I do not work for Home Depot, or Paslode, or Suntuf. I added those links for your ease if you are interested in the product.