8/9-11/05 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

On the way up, a fairly big rock came flying off a logging truck and made a couple of serious dings in my windshield just in front of the steering wheel. It was a little frightening. Also on the way up, at mile post 60, there was a burning straw bale on the side of the road. There were quite a few other bales further on that had evidently fallen off a hay truck. I tried to call 911 but I couldn't get service until I got to the top of the pass. I reported the fire and then continued on my way. There was still a lot of smoke coming off of Dirtyface Ridge but there was no road restriction. I arrived at 2:15.

There was no frog in the can. Soon after I arrived, Larry and Ted Turner stopped by. We went up to the cabin and had a nice visit. When they left, I drove the pickup up to the building and unloaded six sacks of mortar mix. I found a Level 1 Fire Advisory that the Fire Department had left. The instructions for that level said that I should post my phone numbers where they can be seen and I should be prepared to leave if the severity level gets upgraded.

I went to work and insulated all the seams in the front entry room and over to the living room window. Then I nailed the top six seams.

On Wednesday I finished nailing the bottom five seams and then I chinked all eleven seams in the entry room and over to the living room window.

After lunch and a nap, I fed the two adult jays while a couple of the youngsters looked on and made some attempts at eating from my hands. Then I cleaned all the logs where I had chinked. I discovered that it works a little better to clean the logs the same day as they are chinked because the mortar is still somewhat soft and wet.

On Thursday I got some more ripping sawdust to use as sweeping compound and I swept and vacuumed the floor. Then I insulated all eleven seams from Grid E2 to D3. I also fed the family of jays. All the youngsters learned how to take peanuts from my hands so there was quite a feeding frenzy. I left for home at 1:10.