11/12-14/02 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

It was 40 degrees and raining when I arrived at 12:40. After moving in, I took the plumbing apart between the water tank and the water line in the trailer. I need to know what fittings to get in order to install Dr. Dick's valve. I tested the old valve by blowing through it and it is no wonder it didn't work. You can blow through it no matter which way the handle is turned. I must have bought a defective valve.

I gwizzed two and a half planks and then decided to take a picture of a plank partway done. After taking the picture, I couldn't get the gwizard started again. That saw has always been so dependable. It seemed like it was an electrical problem because it wouldn't fire at all. I was thinking that the high-test gas might have made it run too hot or something. Since it was getting late, I decided to quit for the day, but I was worried about what to do in the morning if it wouldn't start.

On Wednesday morning, there was new snow on Nason Ridge about a hundred feet down from the top. Everything was wet but it wasn't raining. The temperature was 42 degrees. When I tried the gwizard, it started right up on the first pull. What a relief. I gwizzed the remaining plank and a half, and then rigged up the block and tackle and pulled the four planks up onto the deck. Bert and Ernie came around and visited me during this process.

Since it wasn't raining, I decided to start harvesting planks from the big log. My plan is to work on the deck if it is raining, and to work on the log if it is not. Since there is plenty of work to do both places, I figure I can always be working out of the rain.

I chose four log stubs, about a foot long, and used them to prop up the big log where I planned to cut it. The end of the log was touching the ground so I figured part of it was probably bad. I plan to cut the planks a little over 10 feet long so I decided to make the first cut at 11 feet to allow for some bad wood at the end. Mother Sow started pretty well and ran well while I bucked the log. I didn't notice that it behaved much differently with the different gas. The choke setting seemed to be closed just slightly more than before. The log was 17 inches in diameter where I cut it, and 15 inches in diameter at the other end.

I made a rack with a couple poles and log stubs and rolled the log up onto the rack. That way, it is up off the ground so I don't have to stoop over to work on it. I nailed on the boards and strung the strings for scribing and scribed both sides for the first cut. By then it was lunch time.

After lunch, I ripped the first slab from the log. Mother Sow ran fine. I kept the chain sharp so it cut pretty well. Just as I finished, Sid Fadden drove up. He came up and looked over the project. I told him how I had used the rebar he had given me to make all the spikes holding the deck structure together. He barely remembered that he had given me any rebar.

After Sid left, I scribed the log for the second cut to make the first plank. That was all I got done before it got dark. The jays only visited me once during the whole day.

On Thursday morning, I ripped the plank, dragged it and the slab down to the gwizzing station, flipped the log over, and scribed it to cut the other slab. I left for home at 1:30.