9/25-27/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived just at noon and it was a gorgeous 60 degree day. After moving in, I applied the second coat of TWP on the lower half of the northwest wall. The wood seemed beautiful I think because of the lighting on that side. The stain takes on all shades of color you find in honey. The pines and grand fir logs are the color of the lightest honey. The grain on the doug fir logs contrasts the lightest and the darkest honey colors in beautiful patterns. Other logs took on all the shades in between. It really was fun applying the stain and watching the transformation from the way the logs used to look.

When the staining was finished, I dismantled the scaffolding and set up new scaffolding near the ground so that I could finish the bottom half of the sill log and the five places where the frames in the previous scaffold position had covered up parts of the wall. Since the scaffold was up against the foundation, I couldn't hang the frames from threaded rods in the usual way. Instead, I supported them with diagonal 2x4s in compression running to the ground. I had designed the frames to be used in either way, but this was the first time I had supported them this way. They worked surprisingly well. I didn't need any other support or fastener for them. The 2x4s kept them tight against the wall and braced laterally as well. I felt good about being able to set them up so easily.

On Wednesday, I spread tarps on the ground to catch the chips, and then planed and sanded the bottom of the sill log and the other parts of the wall that needed to be done. I also did the insides of the projecting ends of the logs on the north corner that I could reach from the ground. I could reach about halfway up the corner. It rained most of the day, but since I was working under the eaves, it didn't bother me a bit. When I finished, I whisk broomed all the chips and dust off the wall and cleaned up the chips on the ground.

I applied two applications of Board Defense to the parts of the wall I had prepared. One gallon was enough to do both applications.

Because of the cool temperature and high humidity, the logs didn't dry to the touch before the end of the day. So I spent the rest of the afternoon moving scaffold material up to the loft and began erecting scaffolding up against the top of the northeast wall. I decided to hang three frames on the wall, and I was able to install them from the inside by reaching out through the two loft windows. I had two of the three installed before I quit for the night.

On Thursday morning I was greeted first thing by a flock of about 8 very eager gray jays. They seemed extra hungry and aggressive, but my guess is that the younger birds who had been more timid before had just mustered up a little more confidence. Where they used to sit by and watch the bolder birds get all the peanuts, they now joined in the fray. They were landing all over me and taking the peanuts as fast as I could dish them out. The local steller's jay also came around, but even though he won't come near me, I think he was stealing all the peanuts he wanted from the gray jays as they tried to stash them for later.

I went to work on the scaffolding again and had it built to the point where I was ready to crawl up onto it for the first time. Since it is pretty high up off the rocks, I figured I'd better use a safety rope the first time just in case. I was just preparing the rope when Larry stopped by. We had a nice chat about options for ducting air and he gave me a good suggestion for using the spring water to cool the air in the building during the summer. He uses a water-air heat exchanger in his furnace cold air return and runs the furnace fan in the summer. He says it makes a big difference in the temperature of the house during really hot weather. It sounds like something I will want to do also.

Since Larry was there to call for help if anything slipped, I decided to skip the safety rope and I went up onto the scaffold and installed the hand rail. The scaffold slipped a little, but it held fine. I still need to do something to allow me to reach the ends of the purlins. They are out of reach from the scaffold. I'll figure that out next week.

After Larry left, I had lunch, closed up, packed up, and left by about 2:00.

10/2-4/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I saw Marilyn out walking when I went through Skykomish so I stopped and chatted with her for a while. I arrived at the property at 1:00. It was a beautiful 70 degree day. I thought Sammy the frog was back in the can on the gate when I took it off, but instead, it was the cocoon of some insect that decided to spend the winter in Sammy's can. While I was moving in, I noticed that the old hose was not running. The new hose that I use for water was running fine. I only keep the old hose running because I didn't want to go to the work to coil it all up and by leaving it run, it keeps it from freezing and keeps organisms from growing in it too much. I decided that before I left I would go up and find out why it stopped.

When I went up to work on the building, I noticed that mice had gotten into the insulated space between the two rafters directly above the northeast wall. I had screened that space so I didn't think ants could get in there, much less mice, but there they were. They had tunnels all through the insulation that I could see through the screen on the bottom, and the screen itself was littered with mouse turds. This was a problem I didn't know how to fix. I learned from having mice in the ceiling of my trailer that they are very hard to evict. I decided to think about the problem as I worked and try to do something before I left.

I climbed up and looked all over that screened-off space to try to find where the mice had gotten in. They had chewed a hole right through the screen right above the north corner. I guess I should have used 1/4 inch hardware cloth in addition to the aluminum screen, but I was as interested in keeping ants out as mice and I thought the aluminum screen would do both. Now, I had to figure out what to do. I decided to think about it while I worked on the logs.

I tried a small amount of oxalic acid on the logs and decided that since the logs on the northeast wall weren't in very bad shape I wouldn't need to plane them. They were never exposed to the sun so the oxalic acid cleaned them up just fine. I mixed a gallon of oxalic acid and put it in the sprayer. Then I took that and a five gallon bucket of clear water up on the scaffold. After spraying the wall, I let the acid work for a few minutes and then brushed the logs with an old whisk broom. This loosened up the dirt and fungus with a little rubbing. Then I rinsed the logs off with clear water by using a new whisk broom which I dipped into the bucket of clear water and shook the water onto the logs. That worked really well and in a short time, I had cleaned all the logs I could reach from the scaffold. I couldn't reach the ends of the ridgepole or the two top purlins, but they weren't dirty and didn't need any cleaning.

While the logs were still wet, I sprayed on two treatments of Board Defense. You are supposed to wet the logs down an hour before you apply Board Defense anyway in order to get deeper penetration, so this worked out very well. In between all these treatments, I was visited by a very eager flock of about 8 gray jays. This flock has caught on that whenever I am around, they get peanuts. They are going through my peanut supply pretty fast, but they are fun little guys to have around.

That night, I talked to Ellen about options for dealing with the mice. Neither of us liked the idea of poisoning them. If I used mouse traps, I would only get one or two at a time and I wouldn't be able to prevent new mice from moving in. It could be a never ending process. If I plugged up the hole, the mice that are in there would either make a new exit hole, or they would die in there and stink for a while. We didn't come to any conclusion.

On Wednesday, I decided that rather than figure out a scaffolding scheme to reach the ends of the purlins and ridgepole, I would just lash the paintbrush to the end of a length of 1x2 so I could reach them from the scaffold I already had in place. That worked pretty well and I got two coats of TWP applied before lunch. I didn't stain the very ends of the ridgepole and purlins, but they will be easy to reach with a long handle on the brush by standing on the high rock. I'll do that later.

The flock of jays was hanging around for peanuts all during the day. They are all getting pretty tame and bold. I can rub the soft tummies of most of them now while they get their treats.

After lunch, I made a decision about mice. I found a short length of 4 inch dryer vent pipe and decided to place it over the mouse hole. That way, when they came out the hole, they would slide down and out the pipe but they wouldn't be able to get back in. I don't think a mouse can get a grip on aluminum, and even if they can, I don't think they can make the 360 degree corner to go from the outside of the pipe to the inside of the pipe in order to crawl back up to their hole.

I tried to figure out a way of positively knowing that mice had slid down the pipe, and even counting them. After considering a few options that either wouldn't work, or that I couldn't achieve, I decided to suspend a clean 5 gallon bucket directly below the pipe. That way, any mice that slid down the pipe would land inside the bucket. I don't think they can crawl out of the bucket, but even if they can, they wouldn't be able to get back into the pipe and up to their hole.

The mouse hole was very close to the purlin on top of the wall so the pipe didn't fit tightly up against the screen. I had to cut a piece of sheet aluminum to make a short interface between the pipe and the screen. Then I made a sort of a hanger out of #12 wire and duct taped the hanger to the pipe. Then with screws through eyes at each end of the wire, I fastened the whole thing to the logs so that it fit snugly up against the screen with the mouse hole inside the pipe. I suspended the 5 gallon bucket with a pulley so that I could lower and inspect the catch from the ground. My plan was to carry any mice I caught deep into the woods and release them, hoping they would either find a new home, or else feed the owls so they would leave the chipmunks alone. I took pictures of the mouse trap for posterity and since the jays were all over me at the time, I got them in the pictures as well.

I felt sort of headachy when I went in for the night, so I went to bed about 7:00 and went right to sleep. I think I am fighting off a bug but I felt better in the morning.

On Thursday morning it was 29 degrees out so I decided it was time to winterize the trailer. First, I went up and checked my mouse trap. There were no mice in the bucket, but the bottom of it was covered with mouse hair. I don't know if some mice fell in there and were able to get out of the bucket or what. I think what happened was that the mice were on the screen above the bucket trying to figure out what to do and the mouse hair fell down from the screen. I figured that they might have decided not to leave through my chute. I also figured that they will sooner or later when they get hungry or thirsty enough. I pulled the bucket back up in the catching position intending to check it once more before I left. I also planned to put a few peanuts and some water in the bucket so the mice I caught would have something to eat and drink until I returned next week.

Next, I went up to the spring to see why the old hose had lost its siphon. I saw that the end of the hose had been pulled up out of the water. There was also evidence that someone had stepped on a rock right there and stripped the moss off of it. But when I looked more closely at the moss, it looked less like a footprint than like two distinct paw prints each with their toe prints. It looked like a medium sized animal like a bobcat or a coyote. I don't know which, if either, was likely to have pulled out the hose, but I can imagine that the hose would have been in the way if they were trying to get a drink, and they might have pulled it out to get it out of the way. Or, it could have been a two legged critter and I was wrong about the footprints in the moss. I guess it doesn't make much difference. There was no real harm done.

I had brought a plastic bottle with me so I used it to restart the siphon and after a little while, I had it going again.

Next, I decided to hang the scaffold frames at two more levels against the northeast wall. I thought I could do it with only one more position, but that would make the logs pretty hard to reach both from the ground and from that one position. It's not much of a problem to erect the scaffolds so by using two more positions, it will be easy and comfortable to reach the entire wall. I installed three of the five frames from inside by reaching out from the loft windows. I'll have to install the other two from outside using a ladder.

I fed the jays some more, and then went down and winterized the trailer. The water tank, which should have had just a gallon or so of antifreeze in it, had about 20 gallons of water in it. I had installed a ball valve in the line to the tank and the valve was turned off. Somehow, the water had gone through that valve and into the tank during the summer, or else there is some other water line going into that tank. It has been a real mystery that I am only slowly unraveling. From this experience, I will not trust that valve again. From now on I will open up the line and cap off the pressurized water line. That way, if water gets into that tank again, I will know that there is another line into it.

The water in the tank was very diluted antifreeze so I didn't know how much, if any, protection it would give the pipes. Since it isn't freezing very hard yet, I have a week to make a decision. I decided to take a jug of the diluted antifreeze home and see at what temperature it freezes. If it won't protect the pipes, I will dump it out and winterize again with full strength antifreeze.

I used the same kind of jury rig for 12 volt power for the water pump that I used last year. I left a pigtail of wire in the breaker box connected to the 12 volt charging circuit. This pigtail was easier to connect to than the lug on the panel. I used my jumper cables to connect the pickup battery to a pair of long wires I keep under the trailer. Then I connected the positive wire to the pigtail and the negative wire to the metal door frame of the trailer. It was easy to test to see that I had power by turning on the 12 volt light over the sink. Once everything was rigged up, I winterized the pipes using the dilute solution.

Then I put everything away, had lunch, and left for home at 1:15. On the way home I realized that I had forgotten to put the peanuts and water in the bucket for the mice I might catch. Oh well, if they fall into the bucket, they will just have to hang in there until I get back next week.

10/6/01 I had put the jug of antifreeze-water in the freezer and it was frozen solid. I cut the top off the jug, and with a stiff knife, I dug a hole in the ice big enough so I could stick a thermometer down through the slush into the hole. The thermometer showed 12 degrees. Then I waited until the ice started to melt and the temperature went up to 28 degrees. I decided this was not nearly enough protection, so next week I will have to winterize the trailer all over again. Oh well, at least I am learning something for the effort.

10/9-11/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

The drive was gorgeous going over. There was new snow on the higher peaks near the pass and a recent rain had freshened up the colors on the vine maples. The sun was out when I went over so it lit up the scenery just beautifully. It was 54 degrees when I arrived at noon. There was new snow on Mt. Mastiff, but none on Nason Ridge or Dirtyface Ridge.

After moving in, I set up the scaffold halfway up the northeast wall. I also checked my mouse trap, but there were no mice or any signs of them in the bucket. I guess the world will not beat a path to my door after all. Next, I sprayed on two applications of Board Defense on the wall.

On Wednesday, it rained all day. It didn't bother me though, because it is nice and dry under the eaves, and I get to the scaffold through the loft windows. I applied two coats of TWP stain. Still no mice in the bucket, but 4 gray jays came around for peanuts several times.

On Thursday morning, there was a fresh blanket of snow halfway down Nason Ridge and Dirtyface ridge. The rain stopped early in the morning. I was glad it stopped because I had to work outside to re-winterize the trailer.

First, I took the screens off the windows. Then I drained the diluted antifreeze solution out of the water tank. Next I rigged up my jury-rigged 12-volt power supply, poured a new gallon of antifreeze into the tank, and pumped the antifreeze into the pipes. Then, I disconnected the line from the tank to the plumbing, and capped off the plumbing fitting. Now, if water gets into the tank, either there is some other line into the tank, or someone is pouring water into it from the outside.

Next, I unloaded a bunch of miscellaneous stuff I had gotten at a garage sale, and since it had gotten wet, I had to separate it all out so it would dry. I also loaded the wheelbarrow and an axe into the pickup for use at a Cub Scout camp this weekend. During the process, a flock of 6 or 8 gray jays showed up for peanuts. I was ready to have lunch so I went into the trailer without satisfying them all.

When I started fixing my lunch, the jays started bumping into the windows. Since the screens were off, I decided to let the birds come in if they wanted. A couple of bold ones came right in. Then I heard Larry coming up the driveway. The jays surprised him by landing on him and flying all around him. He came in and we chatted while I had lunch. We both watched the birds come into the trailer to get peanuts. I took a couple pictures of them on my bed.

After lunch, I packed up and left for home at 1:15.

10/16-17/01 I went up to the property for just one afternoon and night, Tuesday and Wednesday.

I got a late start and arrived at 2:00. There was a light rain all afternoon. There were no mice in the bucket and no evidence I could see that they had made any more holes in the screen. I dismantled the scaffolds on the northeast wall and installed the five brackets lower on the wall.

At one point a chipmunk, or probably a ground squirrel, visited me inside the building. I also had a flock of jays come into the trailer for peanuts while I fixed my dinner.

On Wednesday morning, I got a call from Dorothy saying that mom was having severe eye pain. After a few more phone calls, I learned that Dave was going to pick mom up and bring her to the clinic. I began packing immediately and left for the clinic by about 9:00. They had relieved her pain so she was fairly comfortable when I got to the clinic, but unfortunately she has lost the sight in her left eye.

10/23-25/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

There was snow in the pass above 3000 feet on both sides. The road hadn't been plowed or sanded when I went over so it was pretty slippery. The weather was 40 degrees and raining when I arrived at 1:00. There were no mice in the bucket and no signs of additional holes or any other activity.

I spent the afternoon completing the scaffolding at the new position on the northeast wall. A flock of half a dozen gray jays visited me several times for peanuts.

On Wednesday morning, the jays were at the window of the trailer while I was fixing my breakfast. I fed them a few peanuts through the open windows until I realized that I didn't have a lot of peanuts left. Vladimir and Joyce were planning on coming up to visit and I wanted to have some peanuts left for them, so I cut the jays' breakfast short.

I went to work and inspected the northeast wall closely to determine if I needed to plane it, or apply oxalic acid, or whether it was okay the way it was. I did some scraping with a floor scraper on some of the worst spots, which weren't all that bad to start with. I decided that it wouldn't be worth the effort to do any additional work on the logs because they were in pretty good shape, and they are almost out of sight anyway with bad lighting. It is also getting late in the year and I want to hurry.

Vladimir and Joyce drove up just as I had come to my conclusion about the wall. We had a great visit. They hadn't seen the building since before all the rafters were up. I gave them the peanuts I had left and the jays were all over them eating the peanuts out of their hands. At one point, while we were standing outside of the building, Vladimir took out a cigarette with the intention of lighting up. In an instant, a jay spotted the filter, which is about the same size and color as a peanut, swooped down, landed on Vladimir's hand, and took the cigarette in his beak. He had the filter in his mouth and the rest of the cigarette was sticking straight out as if he was looking for a light. He flew off like that taking the cigarette high up into a pine tree. We all got a good laugh out of that and I regret not being fast enough with the camera to get a shot of it. We went down and admired their new Suburu Outback, and then they left at about 1:00.

After lunch, I mixed up and applied two applications of Board Defense to the wall. It was still about 40 degrees and raining out, so I had my doubts that the wall would dry enough by morning to begin staining.

On Thursday morning, sure enough, the wall logs were still too wet. So, instead of staining, I spent the time moving two of the logs from the high rock down to the porch beams. I'll use these for porch joists.

Next I wrote a note to Marc Fisher explaining that I would like to get the tools back that Jim Raides had borrowed from me on August 30. Then I drove over to Marc's place and taped the note to the door of his cabin. I asked him to call me so we could talk about returning the tools. I went back, had lunch, packed up, and left at about 1:00.

10/30-11/1/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 1:18, but I continued past the property and drove to Marc Fisher's place. He was not there and the note I had taped to his door was gone. I decided to write a less ambiguous note asking him to call me about the borrowed tools. I rolled up the note and stuck it between the screen and his front door. Then I went back to the property.

As soon as I started moving into the trailer, I noticed the borrowed tools lying by the trailer door. I felt pretty foolish. I got right back into the pickup, drove back to Marc's, and retrieved my note from behind his screen door. I had a good laugh over this waste of time.

It was 40 degrees and raining all day. I had brought some fans and light fixtures along with me that Vladimir had given me. After I moved in and had lunch, I carried the fans and fixtures up to the building.

Next, I measured for the length of the Grid F.5 porch beam and then measured a big log stored up behind the privy. It was plenty long enough and it looked good so I decided to use it. I think it was a log from the very first tree Vladimir helped me fall. I gassed up Mother Sow and was very pleased that it started and ran very well for not having been started for so long. I cut the log to length: 16 feet 10 inches. The wood inside looked very sound and nice. The log was 15.5 inches in diameter on one end and 16.5 inches in diameter on the other end.

I rigged up several chains and a come-along and pulled the log out of the rack and down just past the mixer before it started getting too dark to work. It was raining cats and dogs the whole time, but it was still fun working with logs once again. I remember when moving a log like that would intimidate me, but now I can move them around with very little wasted effort or energy. I've had a lot of practice.

On Wednesday morning, it was still raining cats and dogs. One gray jay showed up at the trailer and I fed him a handful of peanuts through the window. He was soaked and didn't return for more, nor did any other birds show up. I hadn't seen any the day before either. I guess they are smart enough to stay out of the rain.

I went to work and pulled the log into gwizzing position in front of the building and under the eaves. Then I rigged to gwiz. I hung the sling from one of the high window frames, and I rigged a come-along with the cable wrapped around the log a few times so that I could use it to rotate the log as I gwizzed it. Then I got the gwizzard out, gassed and oiled it, and sharpened both blades. Then I went to work gwizzing the log.

That was fun too. The gwizard started and ran perfectly and it reminded me of the old days. Even though it rained all day, the eaves provided enough protection so that I worked without a raincoat and was out of the rain the whole time. When I finished, I raked up the chips and called it a day.

On Thursday morning, the rain stopped, but I still didn't see any jays. The new bag of peanuts I got were raw rather than the unsalted ones I had always used. The brown stuff doesn't come off them like it does on the roasted ones, so I was wondering if the jays would like them as well.

I went to work and spent the morning making the porch beam out of the log. I used Mother Sow again, and it started and ran just fine. After lunch, I packed up and was just about to get into the pickup to leave, when the flock of jays showed up. I got the peanuts back out and fed them a bunch of them. The birds didn't seem to like the brown stuff on the peanuts and wouldn't take them if the brown stuff was on the top. But they finally got used to it and didn't mind. I left for home at about 1:30.

11/6-8/01 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at noon. It was a beautiful sunny day and absolutely still. Lake Wenatchee was reflecting Nason Ridge as clearly as if it were a mirror. Beautiful!

The weather was perfect for staining, so as soon as I moved in and had lunch, I got to work on it. I applied one coat of TWP on the section of the northeast wall I could reach from the scaffold. I didn't see a single jay all day.

On Wednesday morning, one jay showed up at the trailer during breakfast. He took a load of peanuts from me and pretty soon, the whole flock came for breakfast. The bolder ones came right into the trailer and took peanuts out of a cup I put on the bed. After breakfast, I went to work and applied a second coat of TWP to the wall. Then the whole flock of jays showed up again and I fed them a bunch more peanuts.

I dismantled the scaffolds and stored them away for the winter. I was glad I got them down before it snowed. I can reach the last 5 1/2 logs from the ground.

I mixed up and sprayed on five coffee cans full of Board Defense. That put two coats on the remaining part of the wall and two coats on the porch beam I had just made.

On Thursday, I measured for the length of the Grid F.5,3 and F.5,2 porch support columns. I took Mother Sow and an axe down to the log pile to see if there were any logs down there that would work for the columns. None of them was sound except for log #62. It was sound enough, but it is a pine and the sapwood is all gray. I decided I would rather use a good looking Doug Fir log, so I decided that all the remnant logs down below are destined to become firewood.

I looked at the log remnants that are on the upper roadway, and there is one that looks like it might be okay. I'll gwiz it and cut into it next week or so to see for sure. The big butt end of the log I made the beam from was lying on the ground since I cut it. I decided to get it up off the ground because it is a nice piece of wood and I don't want it to deteriorate. I used the big steel bar to lever it up onto some short log sections so it is now off the ground.

I had lunch, packed up, and left for home at about 1:15.

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