12/20-22/11 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

On the way, I stopped in and visited with Claude McVey and then proceeded on to Redmond where I met with Herb, Marie, Ray, and friends for a pre-arranged lunch. I got back on the road at 2:00. Next, I stopped at Dickinson's and Tutino's to drop off gifts of Ellen's Christmas jam. Nobody but dogs were home at either place. Bert and Ernie followed me to Camp Serendipity, where I arrived at 4:30. It was well after sundown, but still light.

I turned on the water and then the dogs followed me up to the cabin where they got more hugs and a couple biscuits apiece.

After carrying my gear up, I got a fire going and then hauled a supply of firewood up to the back porch. There wasn't time left to get much work done.

Last week Dave had said that it got pretty cold in the bedroom. It seemed that the main problem was the draft of cold air coming up through the sizeable gaps between the floor and the log walls. I decided I better plug those gaps up the best I could before Ellen, Tianna, and Andrew come up to spend a night next week.

I inspected the gaps between the floor and the walls in the bedroom and discovered that along the Grid 1 wall, the gap was pretty much sealed off below by the rim joist. I'll stuff some more insulation in that gap from the top when it comes time to install the baseboard, which will wait until the flooring is installed. There isn't much of a draft coming up through that gap now.

The gap along the Grid E wall was a different story. Here was a gap of about 2 inches running the entire length of the wall between the first joist and the sill log. The same was true of the Grid A wall. I decided to plug those gaps with strips of Fiberglas insulation. I got a roll of insulation out and brought it up to the front porch where I intended to do the cutting.

On Wednesday it was 25 degrees, clear, and sunny. Bert and Ernie showed up while I was getting firewood and I treated them to biscuits and left-over gravy. They were grateful dogs.

I spent the morning cutting strips of insulation and stuffing them in the Grid E crack from down in the crawl space. The access down there isn't easy because of the stuff I have stored in that area, and because of the ducting for the ventilation system. It was also hard to see what I was doing because I had to get my head right up against the concrete wall and look up into the falling dust. I mostly used a yardstick to manipulate the insulation so I usually held the stick out at arm's length and with the additional 3 feet of yardstick, my head was usually back out of the way of the falling debris. I wore a ventilator all the time, though, so I wouldn't breathe in the dust.

The yardstick worked great to stuff the insulation up, but then it was too compressed to be effective. So I made a tool by driving two nails into the end of a short 1x2 so that they stuck out nearly perpendicular to the very end of the stick. This made a two-tined fork that I used to reach up and grab the bottom of the insulation and gently pull it down somewhat. By working this tool across the bottom of the stuffed in insulation, I was able to fluff it up in the crack like it is supposed to be. It was hard, dusty work, but I finished insulating the crack before lunch time.

After lunch and a nap, I went back down and insulated the crack on the Grid A wall. This crack was a little wider and the access was a lot easier. I ran out of insulation before I finished, but I got the bulk of it done.

The fourth crack, in the living room and dining room along the Grid 3 wall, is going to be tricky because the joists nearly butt up against the sill log and they are resting on a beam that is in the way of working from below. The crack, however, is nearly plugged up the way it is, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for next week. It will mainly be sealed by insulation from above which I'll install after the flooring and before the baseboards.

It was so beautiful and absolutely still and quiet outside that I decided to take a little walk in the woods. The snow was about 8 inches deep and very crusty, not very good for walking. I only walked up to the sequoia grove, spent some time standing still and enjoying the utter quiet, and then went back into the cabin.

I spent the rest of the afternoon shimming, and patching with Fixall, the cracks between the drywall and the studs in the bathroom doorway. I got it all fixed up and ready to hang the door before I quit for the day and headed for the shower.

This, being December 21, was the winter solstice and the sun was out all day. I took note of the sunset, which occurred at 2:35. I thought the sun was going to rise again on the other side of a narrow peak on Nason Ridge, so I watched for it so I could note the time of the "sunrise" and the second "sunset". I was surprised that the sun stayed "set". I know that the sun re-emerges from behind this peak earlier and later than the solstice, so now I am going to have to watch to learn exactly when and for how long I get the double sunsets. After all these years, you'd think I would have that figured out by now.

On Thursday morning, I woke up at 4:00 thinking about hanging the bathroom door. I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up at 4:30 and started a fire in the stove. I tried going back to sleep, but gave up and got up at 5:00.

After exercises and breakfast I went to work hanging the bathroom door. I used a plumb bob to true up the jambs in both directions on both sides and got it installed nice and true. Then I found the old broken door knob set I had used before and installed it in the door. I don't have a strike plate, so until I get some new door hardware, people will just have to put up with turning the knob before they shut the door all the way. It will work temporarily. I love the way the door looks.

I cleaned up the mess and vacuumed the floors upstairs and down. I took a short 15 minute nap, had my lunch, and left for home at 12:45, looking forward to bringing the family up next week.