Spring Snow Storm April 29-30 2010

We had a Spring Snow Storm starting yesterday. When we left home Thursday morning, it had just started to snow. When we left work Thursday evening it was snowing in town but there was hardly anything on the ground. The closer we got to the house, the more snow there was.

The pictures are out of order, but the last ones were of when we got home. The others are of today when we woke up. Needless to say, we did not make it to town to go to work. Our power was out for about 15 hours.

The snow measured anywhere from 17 inches to 48 inches depending on where you measured. The deepest was around the garage where the snow had fallen off of the garage.

These were taken Thursday after we got home from work.

After building the log notching jigs, I decided to start over on the little log cabin. I took down the logs and cut off all of the notches. Then I used the jigs to cut new ones. The fit is much better this way.

I hired Kevin Jagoda to help me yesterday and we got alot done. We sawed about 12 logs, plus we re cut the logs I already had so they would be the same size- 7"x9". I also worked on it today after church. All total this weekend, we cut, notched and stacked 28 logs. That's pretty good for one weekend! I plan to sell the cabin logs. If they don't sell, we'll have a little guest cabin I guess.

Trial run with new camper

Fred and I went for a short camping trip Friday night/Saturday morning to try out the new camper. Everything seemed to work. We found out things that we need to take on future trips.

If you watch the video closely, you can see a fish jump and swim away. Shadow had a wonderful time playing in the creek as we took a little walk Friday night.

Dovetail jig for log cabin notches

Up until now, I have been marking out the logs and then carving the notches with chainsaw/hatchet and chisel. I got the idea to build a jig that would guide the saw bar to make the job a lot easier and faster.

The notches I have been using on this cabin and the one I built in Alabama are called half dovetail. They interlock with no need for nails and any water that may get to the notch drains outward to the outside face.

To cut the notches now, I just have to mark a line down the center of the log and mark the length. Then I attach the jigs with some screws and am ready to go. The chainsaw bar has a couple of small blocks of wood attached to prevent the chain from touching the jig.

New Addition

This week we purchased this camper. It is not as big as my Uncle Richard and Aunt Bobbie's, but we are just starting out.

It's a 19' long 2007 model. I think we got a pretty good deal since it is 3 years old. It seems to be in good shape. It isn't grizzly proof but it will slow them down some.

Elk from last fall

I thought I would put up some pictures of a big bull that crossed one of the construction projects last year right in front of me. The picture may look doctored but it isn't!

Sawing a big log

Someone brought a nice big Douglas Fir log over today for me to saw. It was 22" across at the big end. He ended up with a 13x13 x 11' timber plus a 2x13 plank.

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HAPPY EASTER!

Beautiful Easter Sunday.

Fred worked on the fence.

Shadow enjoying the sunshine.