Category: Cabin and Car living

I resigned myself to the probability that I will always need a chainsaw in my life. So, I went down to “Tim’s Saws” and for a little less then a ticket to Peru, bought a new one.

I got the Sthil 250c. It has an “easy start” feature on it, which is truly a nice feature. It is really easy to start. I wanted the 280 but Tim said it didn’t come with the “easy start” feature.

Tim spent a lot of time showing me how to take care of my new chainsaw. That’s the thing about a chainsaw, it isn’t like a blender where you push a button and it does what it’s supposed to do; you’re always messing with a chainsaw.

He said, “Don’t even try to sharpen it yourself, because you won’t get it right.” Normally I would have been insulted, but from past experiences, I knew he was probably right. He sold me two extra chains and told me to change the chain when it gets dull and then bring it back to him for sharpening.

His most stressed points were, to always use fresh premium gas and never cut with a dull chain.

The reason the bar is upside down is to remind me to turn the bar over after cutting every cord.

Other people love their chainsaws. They take good care of them. When they cut wood, they cut it in identical sized pieces and lovingly stack it. I have always treated my chainsaw with coolness, just cut up my wood in willy-nilly sizes, and would just as soon throw it in a big pile with a tarp over it.

I’m trying to change. I’m trying to develop the enthusiasm and interest necessary to keep a chainsaw running properly and my wood pile full. A really cold winter without enough wood, would probably do it.

The worst thing about fall is the bugs. My cabin fills with wasps and stink bugs. Neither of those bugs are that bad unless you step on them.

I got up this morning and in the dark stepped on a wasp; it stung me on the bottom of my foot.

Once, while I slept, a stink bug landed on my forehead. In my sleep, I reached up, grabbed the bug, and threw it off; the stink woke me up and I had to go wash my forehead. They don’t really stink that bad. It smells like instant apple cider mix and they don’t spray it unless you bother them.

Sometimes, the bugs are so bad, I set up my travel tent and sleep in it.

During the winter and spring, I carry the bugs outside; during the fall, I would have no time for anything else and they probably would just crawl back in. Twice a day I have been turning on my generator, plugging in my new shop vac, and vacuuming them up.

My cabin in BC has a plywood floor. I worried about putting wood flooring down because of the humidity of coastal BC, but hated the plywood. A friend told me about an art gallery that put down a paper bag floor. She couldn’t remember how they did it, so I just experimented with it.

I bought rolls of brown paper–two different thicknesses. Then I ripped a jagged piece off the roll, crumbled it up, dipped it in yellow deck stain, brushed the floor with clear water based polyurethane, smoothed the piece of paper down over the polyurethane, and brushed over the top of it with more polyurethane.

Then I went on to the next piece. Sometimes, I would dip the crumbled wad into the polyurethane for more dramatic lines. The different grades of paper gave even more variants.

I saved the straight pieces for around the edges.

After I was all done, I put several more coats of clear polyurethane over the top. It took me a whole week, working all day, to finish a 500 sq ft. floor, but time is what I have lots of.

For a delicious, healthy, hot beverage try a cup of silver tea. It’s cheap too, unless you are in Sweden, were it reportedly fetches at least the same price as a cup of Earl Grey.

My other cabin is water access only and I don’t own a boat, so if I would run out of coffee and tea I couldn’t go to the store and get more. I found that I was just as happy with some spruce needles in my hot water or even just a cup of silver tea(hot water).

“Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence” is a great book on freeing yourself up financially and getting your priorities clear.

I read it about 15 years ago and it changed my life. It helped me defined what was important to me and think up ways to get the life I wanted. Instead of focusing on getting more money, like most financial books, this one is about getting a more fulfilling life.

At the time there was a simple living series at the community college built loosely around the book. The teachers were all people trying for a simpler, more self defined life and they would offer good advice like: “Personal grooming—do as little as possible but not so little that people take notice.”

Note: This is a really popular book. You should be able to find it at most public libraries. If not, used copies are plentiful.

The rare event of having company is happening today. In case they object to using the five gallon bucket on the porch, I thought I should prepare the guest bathroom for them. I broke trail out to my outbox and brushed the snow off of it. It’s a gaily painted plywood box with a toilet seat bolted to it. It sits over a hole. Unlike a lot of outhouses this one is no trouble to move when the hole is full.