Easing off the Throttle

Welcome to November everyone! Hard to believe we are just a few weeks away from the start of winter and the snowmobile season! Harder still to believe we have only been working on the barnDeeminium for two months. It sure seems like a lot longer! Progress on it continues to move along, but at a slower pace. For me, that slower pace has come the result of it being nearly satisfactory for us to live in comfortably for the next 3 weeks, until we move into the house. There are still a few things I want to get done much sooner than later. Among them…getting the kitchen sink hooked up and some electrical outlets going there. I also want to finish with the wiring in the bathroom. Other than those projects, pretty much everything else that needs to be done can be done at a more relaxed pace.

On the outside, all that needs to be done is for the siding on the front of the shop (the wall with all the garage doors on it) needs to be put up. About half of the crew that has been working on it went west to do some hunting and those that stayed behind were busy with some other jobs they had. One of the workers came Wednesday to help me get the drier and range hooked up to the main propane line and he returned on Thursday and finished the siding on the dormer.

I was able to finally get the extra lumber out of the shop, so that freed up a bunch of space in the shop. With the help of a friend, another garage door got put up. That makes 2 down and one to go. I also have the kitchen sink and temporary counter tops setup. As mentioned, I just need to finish hooking up the water supply lines and make the final connection for the drain and we will have a fully functional kitchen sink!

Today, Nora, Grace and I spread hay down on all the dirt/mud made from the construction of the building and septic system. That job was really biting at me for some reason. I suppose mainly because we had to keep the dogs out of those areas or suffer the consequences. I think the other reason I was so anxious to get the mud and dirt covered is that it looks so much better. I did spread some grass seed before we put down the hay. A couple of sources I asked said that they have had grass sprout from seed spread in the winter. I guess we will see!

So things are progressing nicely and I am very happy to have the need for speed off my back. It was really starting to wear me down, both physically and mentally. I am also glad to be able to spend more time with the family! On Halloween, we all went to the Bootjack fire hall for a trunk or treat. Several of the locals that are still up in this area this late in the season (lots of snowbirds in Bootjack/Jacobsville) gather in the parking lot of the fire hall and many have their vehicles decorated for the occasion. There is a casual judging of the vehicles that goes on and prizes are given out to the best decoration job and the scariest decoration job. All of the vehicles give out candy and the kids can visit each vehicle and get their treats. They then have more treats, as well as some food, in the old fire hall, as well as games for the kids to play. It was a nice way to trick or treat, especially the going inside to where it was warm part! Here is a shot of Gracie with her three best friends and one of her friends younger brother. He was so darn cute in his bigfoot costume and so excited too. I was told that he has been waiting a long time to be able to be bigfoot!

Yesterday we all went to the beach. Primarily to let the dogs romp around and burn off some energy, also to let them play in the water to get all the mud off of them! It was snowing and blowing pretty good, so needless to say we had the place to ourselves! Despite the weather conditions, it was still very nice to be there and we all enjoyed the visit.

Stepping away from my personal life, not a whole of other things have gone on. I suppose the first area-wide snows might normally be big news, but many folks to our south beat us to the punch this past week, with the accumulating snows. We did start out with snows Monday night and early Tuesday morning. It was not much, only a dusting to half inch in most cases, but still made for a beautiful sunrise on our new road.

Wednesday morning we woke up to the first night ice of the season. I see that temps away from the big lake have been regularly dipping into the mid to upper 20’s, as far south as central WI. That is most likely being very welcomed by the clubs that take care of the trails down that way. The cold temps are likely helping to freeze up some of the swamps or wet areas the trails pass through. If not freezing them up, at least getting that water temp much closer to the freezing point.

Speaking of temps and the weather. I did update my snowfall forecasts Wednesday and Thursday to cover the snow event during that period. I will be doing it on a daily basis starting this week. I also plan to get the AlCam and weather station going this week and with a little luck, maybe the woods cam. Right now I am researching the best cam to use as the woods cam, as it will need to be remote and all on it’s own. I can get power to it easily and probably even internet service, so it should not be too hard. I also want to put it in an area where the deer will be congregating. Jacobsville is a deer yarding area in the winter and we have dozens, if not a hundred, deer spend the winter down here where the snow typically does not get as deep. I know we also plan to do some supplemental feeding of the deer.

So I guess that about covers it for this one. Hope you all have a great week!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
JD