Our Retirement Dream Fulfilled

[NerdGirl]

*sits, enraptured, chin on hands, reading all of this with wide, delighted eyes*

Your impressionistic style reminds me a lot of my own childhood. I wish I could write that way! But I tend to become overly verbose and rambly, and I'll wind up spending an hour talking about a blanket or a chair or something like that.

Funny, how a man so much older than I am, who's lived such a vastly different life, is making me think of my own childhood so vividly!

That, sir, is a gift of yours

 

[Gary O']

Funny, how a man so much older than I am, who's lived such a vastly different life, is making me think of my own childhood so vividly!

That, sir, is a gift of yours

Dear sister-

THAT......is exactly my intent

If I can convey my fond memories, paint a word vision of what I see.....well, my job is complete.

Thank you, so very much

This 'gift' can be a bit horrific at times

But the reward, wonderfully nice comments, is so worth the effort

 

[NerdGirl]

I will obtain your book, if ever you should publish it Until then, I'm here for the stories!

 

[Gary O']

I will obtain your book, if ever you should publish it

That's the trick.....finding a good publisher

 

[Gary O']

Actually, the main cabin sufficed for over five years (more on that later, too)

The 2nd (main cabin) was built under a bit of duress
Winter was coming
We needed a place to live...and be warm...soon

But, I took time (early in the morn) to traipse a way from the cabin to get a photo of God's handy work
Nature, morning rises, are fleeting, and I enjoy capturing those rises while they're not looking
So, of a morn, I can be seen in my bed shorts and boots, camera in hand

Here's one I put words to;

 

[Gary O']

Here's a recent one after an amateur photog showed me how to capture the moon (my Nikon took a dump, so I had to use my Canon)
Sat out in the meadow, waiting...like waiting for water to boil...

A good moon shot, for this amateur, is when it's on the horizon

 

[Gary O']

Hot morning coffee is so good

here's a pic from a winter when we were favored with a horde of nutcrackers

this one seemed to be saying;

 

[Monksailor]

I have a cousin who moved out to Colorado back when we were just young adults and has stayed there; in and around Portland over the years.

Your projects look good. Like your ground squirrel. Those things know how to find ways into your personal space, even chewing through wood.

Absolutely love that moon pix!

 

[Tigger45]

Hot morning coffee is so good

here's a pic from a winter when we were favored with a horde of nutcrackers

this one seemed to be saying;

View attachment 292510

Like the chippie I think someone’s hoping that a pastry is coming with the coffee.

 

[Gary O']

Moving along....

In consideration of actually moving to the cabin, we knew we'd need a bedroom, and more living area.

We built another cabin;
this one would be a simple lean to affair.
I now build cabins with 4x4s.
More strength
More area to pound a nail.
While its very forgiving, unfortunately, its very heavy.

The Wall of side one

As our custom with all our cabin builds, we struggle in places.
The most memorable event this time was raising the wall.
Built it on the floor.
Simple.
Kinda fun.

'OK, we'll just tilt this wall up and while you balance it I'll scurry around and nail the sole plate then level and brace it.'

Heh

Something happens at the in between place, the pulling something up as far as you can go, then somehow magically converting to pushing it up.
There's a little squat/jump (clean/jerk) maneuver of which I've never had much command.
I used to just power thru it.
Anymore, if I squat, the sit move comes directly after.

First attempt we couldn't get it above our bellybuttons.
S-o-o-o-o, we just stood there and quivered, looking at each other while we considered our next move.
Seems the only thing on me that wanted to move was my sphincter.

I may have pooped a little.

....don't tell anybody.

Cant say we panicked.
To panic, one must actually do something.
We mainly just watched each other's eyeballs extend past their sockets as our arms slowly but convincingly conceded to gravity.
My mind raced in place on a mental treadmill.
I hadn't given much forethought to the possibility of failure.
We came to a mutual conclusion;

'DROP IT!!!!'


We circled the wall.
We pondered the wall.
'OK, now we know its heavy.'
Second attempt we managed to slide it right off the floor....standing it up....on the ground.
'Well....I'll just pick up my end and put it on the floor, then sidle over and help you with your end.'
Why is it that one reacts favorably to the really stupid bonehead ideas right away?

Eventually, we laid (plopped) it back on the floor, and nailed a long 2x4 to the other end of the floor to stop the sucker.
'Maybe we should get a run at it.'
(insert crazed, maniacal laughter here).

Finally, we steeled ourselves, and with gritted resolve and determination....and the knowledge that, win or lose, this was going to be our laaaast attempt while on this earth...or at least this day, we reached deep into our psyche.

An old man and a sweet not as old woman was able to get that wall up that evening.
There's laughter, then there's higher pitched, relieved laughter.
It goes like this; eh heh...heh heh....heh heh.



We toiled day and night, knowing snow was coming
Deep...unforgiving snow

I make my doors

Not unhappy with 'em

It was all worth it

The view from the cabin window;

 

[Gary O']

I think what I enjoyed most when living at the cabin, was the inhibitions of the wild life

The eagles were a great surprise

The one that roosted in the top of a tree above the well house yielded some great pics

It sat in the top of that tree for three days straight

I finally had to draw some water

.....and off it went

 

[Gary O']

Something I writ after a summer afternoon of basking under ol' Sol



Wutizzit?

So this afternoon we're worshiping ol' sol, layin' on lounge chairs in the meadow, and I'm on my stomach, peering over the edge of the cushion, to observe the tinier world.

Seems there's a hatch goin' on.
Furry/fuzzy white creatures.
Delicate.



I touched one and it disintegrated.

They were all climbing grass blades. Hundreds of them.

To the casual eye, it's nothing more than a piece of dryer lint.

With a bit more delicacy I carefully broke off a blade and scrutinized one up close.

This little guy that from a side view, sometimes resembles a miniature mountain goat, somehow enjoyed strolling around on my finger, and actually preferred the comfort of my skin when I tried to re-introduce the blade of grass.

Also it can be confusing as to which way he's going since he moves rather slow.
The little yellow nub could either be his head or a hemorrhoid.

A friend sent me this;

'It's a....
Mealybug Destroyer!! Cryptolaemus montrouzieri / Coleoptera Oak Ridge, TN June 2008 I was very surprised to learn through an internet search that this fuzzy white "aphid eater" is a type of ladybug larva! It closely resembles some of its prey; talk about a "wolf in sheep's clothing"! It has white waxy secretions that protect it from attacks from ants. The ants try to protect the aphids, which this larva eats, because they eat the honeydew produced by the aphids. What an amazing relationship between the three different types of insects! A Chinese relative of these predatory beetles is being used in the battle against the Hemlock Wooly Adelgids in the Smokies.

 

[NerdGirl]

Here's a recent one after an amateur photog showed me how to capture the moon (my Nikon took a dump, so I had to use my Canon)
Sat out in the meadow, waiting...like waiting for water to boil...

A good moon shot, for this amateur, is when it's on the horizon

I want to learn how to take night shots, and I have a Canon as well. Any tips??

 

[NerdGirl]

S-o-o-o-o, we just stood there and quivered, looking at each other while we considered our next move.
Seems the only thing on me that wanted to move was my sphincter.

I may have pooped a little.

....don't tell anybody.

You are officially my favorite CF storyteller!

 

[Gary O']

I want to learn how to take night shots, and I have a Canon as well. Any tips??

Yes, talk to a really good amateur photog

Set the Canon (Rebel) to 'AV'
With a really fast shutter....the settings escape me
I wrote it down somewhere
Then lost that note

Thing is, the moon is not camera friendly
Something to do with our and it's rotation

Best chance at a decent shot is when it's lowest on the horizon

.....Unless you have a spare few thousand dollar bills laying around

 

[timothyu]

Focus on the moon on AV at the lowest ISO and let the camera do the rest. If you want one of those fancy images with the stars around the moon another longer shot will have to be taken then a composite made with the properly exposed moon. Like Gary says, a photo like his is best taken while the moon is low and there is still twilight illuminating the landscape. (a tripod or steady surface will be needed as hand held will be shaky)

 

[NerdGirl]

Focus on the moon on AV at the lowest ISO and let the camera do the rest. If you want one of those fancy images with the stars around the moon another longer shot will have to be taken then a composite made with the properly exposed moon. Like Gary says, a photo like his is best taken while the moon is low and there is still twilight illuminating the landscape. (a tripod or steady surface will be needed as hand held will be shaky)

Thanks for the tips! Any others for taking pics of the night sky, specifically the stars?

 

[timothyu]

Thanks for the tips! Any others for taking pics of the night sky, specifically the stars?

Hate to butt into the pleasant flow of Gary's posts but ... tripod, aperture one step less than wide open, manually focus, not on infinity setting, but on a light source at least half a mile away or on the brightest star using magnified viewer, ISO originally on 6400 or more to compose then no more than 400, possibly 800 and shoot for between 8 - 15 secs or whatever your camera can handle before the stars start to streak noticeably.

 

[NerdGirl]

Hate to butt into the pleasant flow of Gary's posts but ... tripod, aperture one step less than wide open, manually focus, not on infinity setting, but on a light source at least half a mile away or on the brightest star using magnified viewer, ISO originally on 6400 or more to compose then no more than 400, possibly 800 and shoot for between 8 - 15 secs or whatever your camera can handle before the stars start to streak noticeably.

Thank you! *furiously taking notes*

 

[NerdGirl]

And yes, sorry, back to Gary's lovely storytime