It’s not even the end of January, but it’s not to early to plan and prepare for Spring projects. I’ll leave this as an open post where I will list my ideas as they come to me.
The first things I am already working on. Carvings and statues to decorate the trees entering the homestead. Something similar to these items, only hand made.
But first, today is the fourth anniversary of the previous pack member’s death. Frisbee never got to see the Pithole Homestead. She was a good dog. In her memory.
Now, Introducing a new member to the Pithole Pack.
She is from the Venango County Humane Society. They say she is 1 year old and named Lily. I have considered changing her name but she already knows it. Also when I say Lily real fast a bunch of times, like yodeling, she gets excited. She’s a Labrador Retriever mix, just as Frisbee was.
Here’s a few videos
Silly Lily and the Woods
Silly Lily and the Woods Chapter 2
Silly Lily and the Mirror
Silly Lily and the Mirror Chapter 2
Silly Lily and the Rope
The PT Cruiser finally broke down. But now I have 4 wheel drive.
A 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
Although they were framed and didn’t leak they weren’t very pretty. So I made use of the 1 x 4s I had left from when I took the shelving out of the original shed. A little measuring, cutting, routing and painting and this is the result.
Much nicer.
Yesterday I had a bunch of 1 x 4s stacked to build windows frames today. Then it rained. All night. So I came up with this rack to dry them quick since there only seems to be one dry, sunny day.
Two curious bruins were exploring the homestead this morning. One looked in the the window and said “somebody has been sleeping in my bed”.
After reviewing the video I believe what I thought were two yearling cubs was really a mother and her yearling. The bear who stayed back in the woods appears a bit larger than the one who came to the door.
The Basic Shed
The interior also evolved.
The composting outhouse is also developing.
Not really a composting outhouse. This basically an outhouse with a removable holding tank. The outhouse is designed to moved forward on skids after the back panel is removed. This allows the storage tank to be removed for composting and a new tank put in place.
The storage tank is just a 55 gallon blue poly drum. It is partially buried but can easily be pulled out.
The outhouse has been built but is not in use. I am not sure of the township and state legal requirements so I am currently using a portable camping toilet. I hope to replace the tank on the outhouse with an incinerating toilet which I’m sure is legal and does not need inspection. Composting toilet are also legal in Pennsylvania but most likely require inspection. The blue tank does not even have a hole in it yet. But it looks cool. When I permanently move here I will take care of residence legal requirements. At this time the cabin is actually still just a fancy shed.
Continue reading The Cabin’s Evolution – nearly a years journey
The weather held out long enough to finally finish the porch deck.
Next up. The porch roof.
Piecing together a nice floor with some green and beige carpet, stick on linoleum and some green throw rugs. And the pneumatic brad gun did a great job securing the carpet.
