Febuaryish

 As I sit down to write the latest action packed, edge of your seat, nail biting installment of our blog, I want to share with you that it has been 8 days of below zero temperatures. It doesn't even get above zero during the hottest part of the day. In fact, it is negative 24 below as my frozen fingers peck away at the keyboard.

Cold is a relative term. For those that live here or anywhere north of here, they just deal with it. Life goes on. We have left this area the last 6 years because we were tired of the cold. That makes this the first winter back in 6 years and we are actually dealing with it very well for several different reasons. The main reason is that the cabin we built is so warm that we don't get chilled while sitting inside. Our floor heat and foam insulation is the best we have ever had. Second reason being is that we are retired and we don't have to leave the house at all if we don't want to and if we do leave we dress much warmer than we used to. We have Carhart jackets and coveralls. You aren't going to win a beauty contest but it will keep you toasty warm.

That is me drinking a beer at negative 20. It doesn't work that well because your lips can freeze to the can and if you leave your face uncovered, it can freeze in minutes.

Like our elderly friends in South Dakota, we to like to sit and watch the wild life out our back door. 

We started by feeding the birds and squirrels.  As word spread amongst the animal community about our abundant bird buffet, more and more birds and squirrels have showed up. Finally the deer have found our feeders and are raiding it morning and night. We conferred with some wildlife specialists in SD and they advised us to get some alfalfa for them. So we did. They are much happier.

Work on the inside of the cabin is progressing right along. We have been working on the inside of the bathroom. Putting shiplap on the walls and also the ceiling. Lisa had to stain the boards for the ceiling before we installed them.

The 14 foot ceilings and walls are becoming a little bit of a challenge. It makes for a lot of trips up and down the ladder. It is really starting to look good.

I finally got to use my new nail gun and I love it. I wondered how I got this far in life without one.

As you can see, I have just a little bit left at the top to finish along with the trim. That mirror is only temporary. That was just a thrift store find until we find the perfect mirror for that spot. Speaking of finding deals.

                                                     

Before.

             

After.

Last summer Lisa found a bunch of cedar boards that were in a barn since the 1960's, never been used. Well Lisa brought those in and washed every board by hand and then put a clear poly coat on them and they are ready to go onto the ceiling. That's the next project.

We found cabinets and they will be installed at the end of February. So we have to get the kitchen walls ready for those. That means more sheetrocking. Yay!

All of this renovating cannot go on without some kind of injury. So for this months injury, I give you the "Driving the screw gun into your finger" injury.

It wouldn't have been so bad but I drove it into my carpal tunnel finger. Talk about a new level of pain. I did not cry though. Not until Lisa left the room anyways.

That's it for February. Next week they say that the temps will get into the 30's. I can't wait.