Thoughts of Spring

March, everyone, March! Wow. Spring is right around the corner. I know that we can still get lots of snow but we finish moving in 90 days. That is if we finish things. That is if I ever get over this darned cold and get my work done. Right now, I am absolutely burning up. But this is the break through I needed. Apparently, adding more whiskey did help. Between the whiskey and eucalyptus, I drifted off to sleep smelling like a drunken koala bear. I also hit the orange juice a little harder and steamed my sinuses. I was thinking that I could really use a sauna so I put a pot of boiling water in the sink, hung my face over it with a towel draped over the back of my head. It worked like a charm. It took away all that sinus pain. Sometime during the night, I felt all the congestion break up and I'm breathing easier now. I almost feel more exhausted though. I'm supposed to meet the electrician out at the cabin this afternoon. We all know my feelings regarding those guys lately. I did get more of the story from The Husband as to what happened when he was here and how plywood ended up on the wall. Seems these SOB's think they are too good to lend a hand when needed. Our ex (general contractor) did not have the wall that all the electrical is going on ready. So, it fell on Mike. Instead of the electrician giving Mike a hand, he told Mike, "It's not ready for me; I'll be back in a couple of hours." How absolutely lovely. So, Mike put the insulation up and then proceeded to carry a 4 x 8 (or are they 5 x 8; anyway) sheet of drywall down the stairs by himself and hung it by himself while he screwed the thing in by hand with a manual screwdriver by himself. The electrician came back and Mike wasn't finished yet so he helped put a few more screws in. Oh, you're all heart. I wondered why Mike was commenting on his back being sore when he got home from all this. I stopped in to the electrician's on Friday to schedule them for next week which is this week. I said that I needed a couple more wires added to the front porch for a couple more lights. Their response, "oh, yeah, we didn't do that last time because you had all kinds of stuff on the porch." No, I didn't know what I needed out there yet and our ex didn't have the joists doubled up out there yet so we couldn't add the wires yet. I just needed some wires added and yet I had to listen to a bunch of BS. Why do these pain in the butts feel the need to throw it all back in your face? Nothing is ever their fault, they can't do anything to help out, yet I have to clean up after their messy butts. I want to replace these guys but any other electrician doesn't want to touch another electricians rough in work in case there are problems because it will be the other guy's fault and I'll be the one stuck with paying for and fixing the mess. Kind of like right now with this plywood on the wall and the subpanel not mounted the way we wanted it mounted and now the system is all up and running. Needless to say, I haven't felt very motivated to write the check these guys are wanting. Which, by the way, in checking over the bill, there were mistakes. Math errors and the rate wasn't what they quoted us. We brought that to their attention. Oh yeah, they raised their prices in the fall but they'll honor their quote. Then, what we haven't talked about, they have down a certain amount of hours which, of course, is higher than the hours I have. That's right world, I kept track. I wrote it all down. Now what do we do? Not to mention you charged me for each little wire clamp thingie when they were littered all over the floor of the cabin. Several got stuck in the shop vac. Slobs. Wasteful slobs. Wow, I am feeling better. Just better enough to be cranky. Needless to say, I'm going to have to cancel these guys for today. I did not get the porch cleaned off over the weekend and if someone came out and copped an attitude about having to work under those conditions, I'd get so pissed that I think I would single handedly unravel the thread that's holding the Universe together. So, let's turn our thoughts back to Spring. Today's picture is brought to you by Lake Superior. I took it last summer when I needed a break from the construction BS and went for a walk along the shore. Just a couple miles down the road from The Secret Cabin.

Still kicking

Oh crap. I am convinced that if I were a man, I'd be dead. The sniffles put a man flat on his back in bed. A cold like this would definitely kill one. Good thing I'm a ROAR woman. Still, the germs found me even though I hid under the covers. I went to the grocery store and got the usual cold fighting supplies: echinacea tea, lemons, honey, whiskey, eucalyptus essential oil, and all the fixings for chicken soup. I wanted to get lemon juice so I didn't have to cut and squeeze lemons but there were some things listed on the label that were, well, I don't know what the heck they were. It's logical to me, Spock, that one should not eat something that one doesn't know what it is. Grocery shopping is pretty quick for me because more than half the store has weird science stuff on the label. As an aside note, if you saw how much they sprayed your fruit and vegetables, you wouldn't touch the non-organic stuff either. However, the trip to the grocery store completely wiped me out. I ended up free basing the honey. While it soothed my sore throat, I think I should have hit the whiskey harder as I'm definitely being overtaken by germs. I mixed the essential oil with some jojoba oil and spread that all over my neck and chest so the apartment still smelled like Vix only the natural version. Do NOT put but a tiny, tiny dab under your nose or your eyes will burn and water. I need to kick this thing. I've got work to do.

Can you believe it is the last day of February? Wow. I thought we'd take a little trip down memory lane seeing how this cold has my whole life flashing before me. Today's picture was taken by the previous owner and is the picture that started it all. The Man and I had just watched the movie, The Secret Window. The Secret Window was in a cabin. Well, we wanted the whole cabin and not just the window so we went in search of The Secret Cabin. This was the fall of 2005. We would look at a property, look at each other and ask, "Did we find The Secret Cabin?" "No." Then Winter set in. Now, it was January 2006. I was surfing the internet and looking at the MLS listings on our agent's website. I was scrolling through and when I saw this picture, the world stopped and I gasped, "The Secret Cabin, ooooo." I called the agent. He checked into it for us and it was still available, in the area we liked, and that he'd see us in the Spring. I wanted to see it now. While our agent sounded shocked because there was 300 inches of snow everywhere (no exaggeration), he happily obliged. We met him at the driveway with rented snowmobiles and he rode on the back of the snowmobile with Mike. The driveway is tree lined on both sides for awhile and then it opens into a big clearing and the cabin sits up on a little hill. It completely took my breath away. More so than the photograph. The Man and I looked at each other and said, "The Secret Cabin." The next day was Valentine's Day and we went back out, this time in snowshoes. and looked at the property again. That was our best Valentine's Day ever. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Homework

After my new contractors got the insulation and drywall done, they had to run back to Ohio for an important family event. Meanwhile, I have homework. Now that there's insulation and drywall, I'm lighting fires in the upstairs heater. Just small kindling burns to dry out the heater. I've got firewood coming at the beginning of the week. The electrician is coming out Monday to add some wiring for more lights on the front porch and we've got a few "stray" wires hanging around. I think they were inadvertently moved during all the construction chaos. My plumbing helper is back in town today so I'll get a hold of him and we can finish up the rough in plumbing earlier in the week. I have found a bathroom exhaust fan that I like. I emailed a picture of that to The Husband. He likes it so I need to sit down and order it. Keweenaw Specialty Woods will have all the tongue and groove cedar for the ceiling ready this week. When Eric and Jake get back, they're going to start mudding and taping the drywall and putting the cedar on the ceiling. I've got all the flooring picked out and Rowe Furniture here in town is working on getting that for me. The kitchen and some bath fixtures are sitting in 41 Lumber's warehouse. The remainder of the bath stuff is already at the cabin. I think I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullet on the bathroom ceiling material. Originally, I wanted to put Metallaire up in both the kitchen and the bathroom. It is way too expensive. It would cost darn near what the entire underside of the roof is costing for the tongue and groove cedar. The kitchen ceiling will also have tongue and groove. It will flow better which is important in a small home. However, the bathroom does have a door and it's really the only "room" in the house. Everything else is open. I was planning on going out to the cabin again today and clean but I've got a cold that is just kicking my butt. This germ fest started Wednesday. I didn't feel too bad when I got up yesterday but after messing around at the cabin yesterday (all week, for that matter) and running around town a little, it's starting to feel fatal. I haven't decided yet or not if I'm going to have a hot toddy and just curl up into a little ball and snooze the cold away or if I'm going to gut out about another half day of work again today. Really, I NEED to rest so I can be good to go again because there's lots to get done. Why is it so hard to rest when we really need to? Maybe if I pull the covers over my head the germs won't see me and they'll just go away.

Dance of the Soul

Wow. The tension of the last six months has left my back and shoulders. Big, happy sigh. Right now, in the dictionary under bliss is a picture of me and the cabin in the sunshine against a backdrop of snow, recharging our batteries (both figuratively and literally), a little fire in the heater, and washing it all down with a chai tea latte. It has been a good week for us. Eric and Jake navigated The Secret Cabin expertly waving their magic hammers around so quickly they were but a blur. After three days, the cabin is insulated and drywalled. They wrapped up some loose ends and corrected a few framing errors left over from my ex (contractor). They took care of what needed to be taken care of without me having to ask, ask, ask, scream. This is how it should be. I've always thought the difficult people and situations that are part of life and that we all experience was to challenge us to learn and grow. But learn and grow what specifically? Surely, not our ability to string together colorful metaphors. I thought the lesson, which obviously seems to have evaded me over the last 6 months of construction, was to learn to gracefully deal with these difficult others and situations. Maybe, though, the lesson is to recognize when things aren't working, cut those people and situations loose, move on, and surround myself with those that do the dance of the soul. The dance of the soul occurs when the task at hand is carried out beyond "just a job." It is elevated and performed happily and to the very best of one's abilities. That person is in the groove, in the flow, nailed it, spot on. Maybe the lesson is for each to learn his/her own dance of the soul so we can all dance together.

Big, fluffly, snowflake

photo for all those Winter photo fans. I'm kind of all hurry up and wait today. We've got snow. And a little bit of wind. Equals drifting driveway. I got up at 6:15 this morning to get out to The Secret Cabin so I could clear the driveway for my fabulous finish crew. I checked on them this afternoon to make sure they could get out for lunch and a quick run to 41 Lumber. I snapped some pictures of the cabin interior but about 15 minutes after they got back from lunch, they got more done and the inside of the cabin looks different again. I swear. Well, I know you know I swear so maybe a "cross my heart" would make the point. I'll take more pictures of the cabin after their done this evening. As an aside note, I do have a bunch of blog entries in my draft folder that I've been working on that will be added per their origination date so you'll have to scroll down to read those. I should have them done by the end of the weekend.

Playing with the sun

and gate. It was another beautiful and sunny day. I felt rested and ready to "get 'r dun". Armed with my cheat sheets, I headed out to the cabin. This time I couldn't get the gate open. The Jeep is skinny and goes through the snow pretty well so I was able to squeeze it through the smaller than usual gate opening. Some one else also thought our property was good for snow shoeing too and left tracks across our property. I'm hoping that doesn't continue when we get moved in full time because we enjoy the privacy our property offers and we want to continue enjoying it. We don't want to be sitting in our living room having a glass a wine in front of the fire with Barry White playing softly in the background to have the moment spoiled by someone bopping by a window. And we're definitely not sharing our wine. Plus, Diesel, my horse, tends to be very territorial. He goes a bit crazy whenever someone comes onto our property at the Ohio farm. He starts prancing over to where the person or people are wondering around only to be stopped by the fence and snorts at them. By the looks on the faces of the alleged invader, the horse can be rather intimidating. To be honest, I'm not sure what he'd do if he ever got out of the pasture. We joke that he's our "guard pony." Trespassers: Diesel on duty. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Now, for those that have been waiting on the edge of their seats to witness the transition of someone who has always been on grid to life off grid, here we go. After following the steps listed on my cheat sheet, I plugged the vacuum into the outlet. I looked at all the numbers and lights on the inverter (pictured above), charge controllers, and system control panel. Then I turned the vacuum on and ran back to look at all the numbers and lights again. Next, I did some actual vacuuming. Then I ran to look at all the numbers and lights yet again. I couldn't help but feel like I hit the jackpot in a Vegas casino or something with all those lights and numbers. Vacuuming is definitely more fun in an off grid home.

And for my final trick of the evening, I ended up hanging from the gate. After squeezing the Jeep through the narrow opening, I tried to swing the gate open more. I shook it. It didn't move. I shook it harder. The only thing that moved was my hair and my eyeballs. I shook it even harder. It gave way, followed by both my feet and legs and there I hung like a monkey. It's moments like that you hope the neighbors aren't watching, armed with a video camera and a padded envelope made out to America's Funniest Videos.

Solar Training for the Lady of the Cabin

I guess all that snow shoeing, drift scaling, snow shoe boarding, and playing with the gate yesterday was a little more than I was used to as I was really exhausted today. To the point of not feeling very well. The tractor did all the work with the driveway clearing; I just kind of aim so I don't think that was an issue. As much as I don't like sitting out a day of sunshine, I did. I feel bad when I don't get much done. I did cook, take a nap, and got some solar training. The Man loves his manuals. There must be eight manuals for the solar system. Thankfully, he was able to give me the "cliff notes" version. I now know the electricity flows from the panels into the house and through the charge controllers, batteries, inverter, and finally, into the subpanel. I created a cheat sheet on how to power up the system and power it back down. First of all, there is a box on the pole that the panels are on. We have eight panels. There are two groups of four panels. One is named PV1 and the other is PV2. The breakers for PV1 and PV2 in this box on the pole are flipped on. Next, in the mechanical room in the cabin, in the distribution box (pictured above), PV1 and PV2 disconnect breakers are flipped on (pictured above). Then the breakers for Charge Controller 1 and Charge Controller 2 are flipped on (pictured above). Inverter 1 disconnect gets flipped on. The inverter then gets turned on (it's to the left of the distribution panel). Inverter 1 Out breaker gets flipped on (in the distribution panel). Now the juice is flowing to the subpanel. The subpanel is just your basic, every day, on-grid household breaker box. The service disconnect breaker is on. Right now there is just one outlet in the entire cabin and it's at the subpanel. Turning the system off is just doing the above steps in reverse order. I am also trying to get into the habit of standing to the right of the breakers that I'm throwing while using my left hand to throw them. In the unlikely event that the breakers blow (can you tell I've recently flown), they are supposed to blow to the left which would be away from my left hand and my body. DISCLAIMER: These are the directions for OUR system; the procedure could be different for different systems. Please be safe and refer to your own encyclopedic set of manuals.