Wood panels. and more wind…

01-01-08

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later… I got angry, I lost my temper, normally it takes quite a bit to make me display anger. The problem (I have) is the propane stoves, we have a one burner and a two burner stove, we use an empty lighter to light them (it still sparks, and that is all you need), when I turn on the gas, I place the lighter close to the burner and start sparking it like crazy, well, for me, most of the time it doesn’t work, I get jumpy and pull back too soon, well after a few time I feel I need to stop, turn off the gas and let it air out, I’m not interested in creating a fireball, I just want to light the damned thing! Bob finds it amusing, not in a mean way though. He tries each (AND EVERY) time to explain why it doesn’t work for me and how to make it work, I just get even more frustrated with the whole thing, today I was trying to cook breakfast, and nothing I did would light the two burner, Bob started smiling and started to explain (AGAIN), I just couldn’t take it, I turned off the gas, and tossed the skillet and the lighter on the counter (I really wanted to throw it!). That really made his smile even more, he seems to find it amusing when I get angry, much like seeing a young child or small animal get mad about something minor. I reminded him about when he gets angry, how he would react if I laughed at him, he agreed that he would not like it at all.

Breakfast did get cooked, I resorted to using a match, we had toast, toasted on a well seasoned cast iron skillet (not the one I tossed), and scrambled eggs, the eggs came from a local resident’s chickens, the eggs still had a few down feather attached, talk about fresh! I can’t wait to have my own chickens, fresh eggs every day…

We spent this day putting up more plywood to the cabin, at least half of the walls were basically heavy builder’s plastic and wire, it kept out most of the winds, and kept in most of the heat, but it was noisy in the winds, now, I’d say that 85-90% of the walls are covered in at least 1 layer of plywood, many of them have two 2 layers, one on the inside and one on the outside. I helped as best as I could, the plywood panels are heavy, and we had to get them up at least 8 feet off the ground, not an easy task with the wind gusting like it has been. Bob got on the ladder and I worked on the ground, we do make a pretty good team, though I’m not as strong as another guy would be, I do my best with what I can do. Bob is pretty ingenious at doing the near impossible, I think I’ll rename him MacGuyver.

Now the next thing we need to concentrate on is getting the roof in better shape, it is doing good for now, but if it rains, we will most likely get wet, fortunately there is a rainy season, and it’s not this time of the year, right now it’s just windy and cold. We just ate dinner, and now it’s time for me to go to our neighbor’s house to get water, he has been such a big help to us! Thanks neighborino! :)

The other thing I did today was to collect grass for the compost pile, it’s essentially a large wire cylinder staked to the ground, we placed a thick layer of grass on the bottom and placed a layer of tall grass (18-20 inches long) around the perimeter inside the wire, this keeps the “stuff” inside, and if anyone looks at it, they will not know what is inside ;) About once a week or so, I dump out the bucket from the humanure toilet and place another layer of grass and leaves on top. No, it doesn’t smell in the least, and it’s not unsightly at all, all you can see is a tall wire cylinder and some tall grass lining the sides, in fact it blends right in to the surrounding area, I will continue to fill it until I can’t add any more, then I will start a new compost pile, the first one will set undisturbed for a year, then it will be fully composted and completely safe and sanitary.

I think tonight is going to be a blustery night (as Pooh would say), it should be quieter for us inside the cabin, but that means we will be able to hear the other sounds that were previously drowned out by the plastic popping, crinkling and snapping in the wind. Sometimes I can hear creaking, it makes me think of being on an old wooden pirate ship. :)

2 Comments

Anonymous said…

For lighter the propane stoves have you tried one of those spark lighters used to light propane torches?

example: https://www.flameengineering.com/Spark_Lighter.html

It has more of a handle that keeps your hand out of the direct flame area.

April 7, 2008 5:09 PM

Wretha said…

Thanks for the info, actually I have gotten a lot better at lighting the stove, the problem was the % of chicken I had (grin!), now I light it like a pro, occasionally I have a little trouble, but nothing like I used to have, most of the time, I get it lit on the first try.

Wretha

April 9, 2008 7:44 PM