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Log: December 31, 2016

December 31, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

If you eat enough of Aunt Judy’s waffles…

Lyssa, the boys, and I rolled into Aunt Judy’s a little after 11:00 for a late breakfast. Jake had his usual waffle and Josh devoured a cheese omelet. It was a pretty standard meal for the most part, but Jake spotted something on his way out: himself. There’s a little notice on the wall urging people to leave TripAdvisor reviews, and they’ve got Jake’s picture! I took the photo back in June and uploaded it to Google Maps where it’s had over 5,000 views. Aunt Judy’s “waffle baby” is a little celebrity now!

… you go up on the wall!

Log: December 11, 2016

December 12, 2016 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Quick supply run today. Took almost 90 minutes to get here from Oshkosh thanks to last night’s snowfall and everyone forgetting how to drive in winter conditions. Around 11:00, I made my way down the driveway through 6 inches of snow and backed up to the pole barn. I hooked up the ATV trailer and loaded it up with both ATVs and the plow. I’m going to have them both serviced at the dealer this winter, but I need the plow up and running today.

Log: Deer Camp 2016 (November 18 – 20)

November 21, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Friday

A roving gang of turkeys greeted me as I rounded the corner to the driveway.

Pulled in the driveway a little before 2:00 pm. Incredibly windy today and temps are dropping fast. First thing I did was fire up the infrared heater in the keep. Dad was already up here getting things ready in the big trailer. He’s got it cleaned up pretty nicely already. Steve and Sammy showed up about 3:30 and Steve set up his portable stand along the east edge of the yard. Based on the timelapse activity I’ve been seeing over the past few months, he should get some deer traffic there. With the wind gusts as strong as they were, I didn’t need to worry about blowing leaves at all. I got the pump going for Dad and filled the 5-gallon pails we use for wash water in the big trailer. Because of the freezing temperatures, I had to drain the pump as soon as I was done. I also ran the hose over to the pole barn and blew it out with the air compressor so it wouldn’t plug up with ice. I fed the birds, put down a feed block, some corn, and some mixed seed, and headed inside by the rest of the guys. It’s getting damn cold.

Log: October 29 and 30, 2016

November 1, 2016 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Saturday

I wound my way down the driveway around noon after fortifying myself with some Aunt Judy’s. This trip, my only aim is to suck up leaves. However, I had some prep work to get out of the way. I started the pump and filled the keep’s reservoir so I could have some wash water this weekend. I also blew leaves off of the deck and away from the front of the keep. I unloaded my bags and some tools from the truck, parked it out of the way, and I was ready to hop on the mower.

I got right to it, starting with the driveway. I’m very glad the collection trailer works as well as it does; it would take forever to do this with a traditional bagger unit. As it was, I filled the trailer three times from the driveway alone. I’m dumping the mulched leaves around the marsh entrance as that’s been getting pretty squishy lately. After about four hours on the mower, I finally decided to do something about all the low branches and dead trees on the east side of the yard. I parked the mower and got out the chainsaw, trimming trees as high as I could reach from the ground. I hit everything from the marsh entrance to the outhouse, greatly increasing visibility in that part of the yard.

Log: October 23, 2016

October 24, 2016 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Lyssa, the boys, and I pulled in around 11:30 after a delicious Aunt Judy’s breakfast. Sunny, breezy, and in the mid-50s—a perfect fall day. Not much on the agenda today; just looking to enjoy the place and get the boys tired. Quite a few leaves on the ground now with more falling like snow as the wind picks up. I blew off the deck and around the keep, feeders, pump, and outhouse while Lyssa and the boys raked up a big pile near the pole barn that they could jump around and play in. The boys got a kick out of diving deep, popping out, and scaring each other. Jake was really interested in checking out the remains of the woodshed, too.

Back in the keep, I went through all the bedding and linens. I had washed everything I brought home last trip and hauled it back up today. I put all the stuff we use regularly in vacuum bags and stacked them in totes in the bedroom closet. There were a lot of older blankets and sheets left and I returned those to the big trailer. This freed up a lot of room in the closet and should make dressing the beds a lot easier.

Log: Puckaweekend 2016 (October 6 – 10)

October 11, 2016 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Thursday

Pulled in around 4:00 pm in a fairly empty pickup. All of my tools and goodies for the weekend were brought up last weekend, so all I really needed today was my duffle bag. Well, that and the final parts for the secret project I started last trip up. I brought everything into the keep between intermittent rain showers and got to work on the final big project for Puckaweekend: hot and cold running water.

Of course, cold running water has been a reality up here since early this summer, but I wanted to take it further. I picked up a outdoor, propane-fueled, tankless water heater on Amazon and built it into a “backpack” I could hang on the back of the keep. This setup also contains the pump that was previously mounted beneath the bathroom sink. All connections are centralized (propane supply, power outlet for the pump, water supply, hot output and cold output) and can be disconnected to store the backpack safely indoors for the winter. I ran my new hot water lines to both sinks, fixed my cold water connections beneath the bathroom sink to accommodate for the relocated pump, and ran an extension cord out to the backpack to run the pump in its new spot. I also replaced the kitchen and bathroom faucets with ones that sported both hot and cold taps (and the bathroom one was busted anyway). Finally, I added a hot water supply branch for the new shower head that came with the water heater. It has a supply shutoff switch right on the handle so there’s no need to plumb in a shower faucet. It was nearly dark by the time I finished setting everything up and, thankfully, it worked flawlessly during the first test. No leaks anywhere and 120° water within seconds of turning on a tap.

Hot and Cold Running Water

October 7, 2016 / Jeff / 3 Comments

Running water is something we all take for granted. It’s been a basic feature of American homes for over 100 years. But up at Puckaway, we haven’t quite caught up, as there are a few major hurdles in the way. If you want potable (safe to drink) water around here, you need to drill down over 200 feet. We’re not putting in a proper well until we have a nice permanent home up here and know where we’re placing the slab.

Also, while we have always had a shallow well and outdoor pump to provide water that we can wash up with, it has a poor flow rate of under one gallon per minute. Additionally, we have to drain the pump and hoses when temperatures drop below freezing. And we don’t heat any of the buildings during the winter. Pipes would freeze and burst.

Last year, I reconnected all of the drain plumbing in the keep, but I wasn’t expecting much improvement on the supply side. We did what we had always done, storing 5-gallon buckets next to the sinks to wash up with and using our portable, hand-pumped, camping shower. Interestingly enough, this was all about to change because of a pressure washer.