3/2-4/04 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

It was a spectacularly beautiful drive over the mountains. There was a bright, sunny, blue sky and the mountains had a bright new fresh coat of snow. It was gorgeous. I arrived at 12:25. The temperature was 44 degrees.

I was afraid of what I might find in the cabin. Since I had been gone nearly 3 weeks, I figured that if I had screened the holes so well that the pack rat couldn't get out, and if there were no water inside, it might have died and I would smell a stinking dead pack rat hidden somewhere. Or, I figured I might find one of the screens removed so that he could get out to find water. That wouldn't be so bad.

I realized I had made a mistake by not removing the screen from the pipe last time. If I had removed it, that would have allowed the pack rat to exit through the pipe. What I found was that the screen was still intact and the peanut in the pipe was still there. I took that screen off. I also found that there was water in the crawl space for him to drink and all the other screens I inspected were still intact too. I also didn't smell a dead pack rat. That was all good news. Then, I set the trap.

After moving my gear in and having lunch, I carried a dresser of my Mom's up to the building and stored it in the loft. I used a pulley and a snubbing rope to lift it up onto the porch deck and I used a come-along to lift it up into the loft. Then I went to work stuffing fiberglass insulation around the two top windows so I could nail the cove molding in place. To my dismay, I discovered I didn't have any small finish nails. I thought the ones I had used for the door casings were the right size, but when I held them next to the molding strips I could see they were way too big. It was time to quit for the day and I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the nails.

On Wednesday morning it was snowing and about an inch had accumulated. After breakfast I called the Parkside Grocery and learned that they didn't have the finish nails I needed. So, I drove to Plain and bought the nails from Plain Hardware.

When I got back and went up to the cabin, I was delighted to see that the trap had sprung. I got the camera, took the trap outside, shut the door, lifted the trap off my furry little buddy, and took a picture of him. He gave me that same dirty look again as if he were saying, "You again??" He ran back behind the building again and I went in to work.

I mitered, fit, and nailed the molding strips to the two top windows. It was sort of awkward working up on the scaffolds but I figured it would be easier having my miter box up there rather than continually climbing up and down the scaffolds. It was a great feeling to see those trimmed and finished windows. Except for needing a good washing, they are now completely finished inside and out and hopefully won't change much for many decades. They look great to me all nice and shiny just like I imagined they would.

Before I went in for lunch, I dismantled the top tier of scaffolding. After lunch, I resumed planing, scraping, and gouging the logs on the northwest wall between the corner and the loft. I got the next five logs ready for varnish by the end of the day. I was also plenty tired and sore from the work. Taking those two weeks off had let my old body atrophy noticeably. It felt sort of good to have sore muscles again. Before I went in for the night, I set the trap again and set a peanut out on the floor. I really wasn't sure what the pack rat population had been so I wanted to find out if there are more in there. Also, if my buddy finds a way back in, I want to catch and evict him yet one more time.

On Thursday morning I found the trap and peanut untouched. I wondered if I could finally claim victory. I had a little celebration anyway because it will take several weeks or months to know for sure, and by that time, the victory excitement will have died down.

I made one confusing discovery, though. The peanut in the pipe was gone. I really couldn't remember whether I checked the pipe the night before or not. I hope I hadn't and that the peanut was taken by the pack rat before I caught him. I put another peanut in the pipe and put the screen back on. That way I should be able to tell if an animal can get into the pipe from the outside.

I varnished the final coat between the upper and lower windows between Grids B and C, and I varnished the sealer coat on the five logs on the northwest wall. I also varnished another coat on all the handrail posts in the loft. I had lunch, packed up, and left for home at 12:50 feeling pretty good.