2/22/08 Wired up two switches in a handy box for the dining room lights and the loft lights.

2/26-28/08 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 1:00. There had been no new snow since last week and the old snow had shrunk back by quite a bit. It was a pleasant 36 degrees. Bert and Ernie came by for dog biscuits while I was moving my gear into the trailer. I brought four stools and a folding chair with me that I had salvaged and I carried them up to the cabin.

There was no evidence of mice in the cabin so I am hopeful that the screen over that drain pipe did the trick. I went to work and sanded the third Grid A log which was due for another coat of varnish. Then I planed about half of the fourth log. After that, I made a steel plate from half of a piece of EMT and used it to protect the Romex in the column where it gets close to the surface. Then I ran the wires from the newly assembled handy box down through the hole in the column. It made the turn nicely from one hole to the next going through the steel plate as it went. I fed all the wire through and when it was all in, the handy box went right in and seated nicely.

To get the box aligned right, I fashioned four little plugs made out of a purple crayon and put one plug in each of the four small holes in the back of the handy box. Then I screwed the cover plate on and pushed the handy box into the hole. With the cover plate on, I could get the box positioned exactly right. Then I pushed hard on the plate so that the four plugs of crayon would leave marks on the back of the hole so I would know where the screws should go.

Then I pulled the assembly back out of the hole and took off the cover plate. Then I took the switches out and bent them back out of the way so I could drive the screws in to fasten the box to the inside of the hole. The crayon marks showed me where to put the screws. I had marked four holes but I intended to use only two screws in diagonal corners. The other two would be in case I needed to adjust the box after the first try. And that is what I had to do.

The first time, the plate was a little high and to the right. So I took the plate off and switches out again, loosened the screws a little and started two new screws in the other two holes down and to the left a little. Then I took out the first set of screws and drove the second set in tight. I put the whole thing back together again and this time the plate lined up perfectly. I was very pleased with how it looks. Now I just need to patch the hole over the steel plate.

On Wednesday I measured the snow depth on the ground in the flat open area and it was 3' 11 1/2" deep. It had shrunk down by two feet. I went to work and made a wood inlay for the hole in the column with the wires and steel plate inside. I didn't have any wood glue up at the property or I would have glued it in. That will have to wait until next week.

Next, I planed, scraped and gouged the entire fourth log and half of the fifth. They are much easier logs to work on than the first and third ones had been. It was fun working on these logs. Before I went in, I swept up the chips and vacuumed the wall and floor.

On Thursday morning, it was a beautiful 38 degrees outside. One gray jay came down for peanuts. I went up and varnished the prepared log surfaces and then left for home at 12:30.