Blackberry Season

'Round this neck of the woods blackberries are coming into season. Gawl dang, them is some good eatin'.

Yup, raspberries are pretty much gone, blueberries are hangin' on, but berry king of da nord woods is comin' on strong.

RIP Bat

Killed a bat today.

I was moving a loose stack of lumber and discovered the bat in the midst of the pile, screeching in agony from being crushed.

So, it was a mercy kill to bash its head in with a cement block. Better to end the suffering quickly.

On the other hand, I did pick up a garter snake from the path of an excavator and was rewarded with snake excrement all over my hands. But I'll take that over blood.

Deer, Yaup....

Being around the semi-tame Deerwood inhabitants for a while, I can get pretty casual about it all.

The building inspector came by today and passed the wood stove for the forest management office. The usual deer were in the parking area as Ernie arrived and he expressed his amazement in hushed tones as they stood twenty feet away, waiting for us to leave. "Oh, yeah", I said.

Sorta miss the thrill I used to get.... Wow! look, deer!

Earlier today I came across three mature female deer and two fawns along a Deerwood trail. The dominant female took point, with the young female fawn bringing up the rear. Walking in a line about thirty feet apart, they just stepped off the trail and waited for me to pass. I said my usual, "Hey, howsitgoin'" so they know everything's cool.

Massasauga Rattlers

A number of years ago I was walking through Deerwood and heard a hissing sound like a high pressure air leak. It was the sound of snake rattle.

I looked down and my foot was about three feet away from a Massasauga rattlesnake - the only poisonous snake in the region that I know of. Thought the best thing to do was to RUN AWAY! And I did.

They're a threatened species and it's a real no-no to harm these animals. Now that I work on Georgian Bay islands, the odds are pretty good that I'll come across another one sometime soon. One of the crew met one on a forest path a few weeks back and lived to tell the tale.

Another one of the guys told me about his buddy who used to be in the Coast Guard on Georgian Bay. They'd go out and paint lighthouses in the summer and there'd be one guy (who wore chainsaw pants for protection) who's only job was to catch these rattlesnakes and to toss them on the helipad - out of the way.

The trick is to catch the rattler by the tail and start spinning the head in a circle right away before you toss it. That's so it can't swing up and bite your arm.

How do you get started with a job like that?

Now here's something else buddy told me. The reason why there's some islands on The Bay with plenty 'o rattlers is because when the loggers first arrived in the mid 1800s, they raised hogs on some of the islands and put rattlers on the islands so the hogs could feed on them. I don't know if I believe that, but that's what he said.

Broad Axe

I popped into the Parry Sound antiques shop today and lo and behold, buddy had an old broad axe for sale, $20. Sold!

This Campbell's Tools, St. John, NB no. 4 just needs a good brushing.
And a handle adjustment.

I've been looking for one of these puppies cheap for a long time. I could buy one new for $150 - $300, but I'm too busy paying off the safety harness for that.

Broad axes are used to hand hew logs into squared beams - the old fashioned way. I can use it to lay down trail beams for woodlot bridges and a whole whack of other things. These axes were used extensively in the new and old world before mills replaced them for the most part in the 1800s. The side shown has a beveled edge for sharpening while the other side is flat for shaping the log. Think of it as a big and heavy wood chisel.

Here it is after power brushing off some rust.

Looks like a sculpture.

And now I have something to bring to those angry mobs!

Wet In The Wild

After a big downpour I whistled my way out to the office to find the big tarp I'd placed over the half unroofed FMO had blown over the roofed side.

Inside the plywood floor was covered in a pool of water and some other stuff - mostly wood cutoffs. So, I spent this evening mopping up with a couple pair of torn jeans. I also managed to assemble some of the stove pipe and heat shield along with figuring out how the new safety harness works.

At least I think I know how it works. I ain't the instruction readin' kindo guy. Pretty straight forward. Looks like there's even a beer holder on it and everything.

What could go wrong?

Half and Half

I've shaked up one side of the office in the woods with the more difficult side yet to be done.

Due to a change in the weather toward rain, I've tossed up a make shift tarp to stop most of the rain coming into the structure.

For the last few days I've built a chimney support structure and somewhat assembled the chimney. And let me tell you that hoisting a six foot long stainless steel chimney pipe into a support socket when one foot on a 1x4 piece of wood strapping is the only thing between me and solid granite 20 feet below, a new form of sweat is discovered.

Sister Sue is bringing up another 4 bundles of cedar shakes and 5 lbs of nails.

Gonna buy that roof harness with my next paycheque. Falling is just a matter of time.

Shake Up

I decided to go ahead and take the tarp off the FMO around noon yesterday. Algae was beginning to form in some water pools.
It's time to put some cedar shakes up on that roof there.
And it only rained about four or five times. But it was a light
rain. Today's supposed to be better.

Managed to do five rows before daylight and the damn mosquitoes called me quits.

Was about to start the sixth and realized I was putting the tar paper
in wrong. With these things, I'm supposed to slide a half sheet of
tar paper over the top half of every row. I was just laying them in
behind them. Must've been the beer.... Am I gonna take the old ones
off and start over. NO WAY. But at least I'm improving. besides, these hand spilt shakes haven't been drawknife dressed and sit quite a bit up from the shake they've been nailed to below it. Believe me, there's plenty of room for them to dry out between rains.

Five rows is about all I can do from standing inside of the structure. Why from the inside? Well, as it's almost an 18/12 pitch roof, it's too steep to stand on, and either side of the forest office is a steep rock drop off that makes ladder or scaffolding work very difficult. Now
I've gotta nail a 2x4 about 1/3 the way up the other rafter side and
stand on it and lean over the ridge to work. This will take slow
going as I have to hand pick each shake to fit into the next spot.
And I thought crouching down under the low rafters was bad before.
Gonna have to come up with some kinda efficient system or it'll take
me weeks and rain is on the way. I think I may have an idea....

I've tried standing on that 2x4 to test it and it isn't the safest
thing I've ever done. I was actually pricing roofing safety harnesses
today. Comes out to $300. Too much for now. One day, unless I'm
dead by then.

Sorry to say that there won't be photos for some time as both my cameras have died from
impacts. And all my money is going into building materials right now.

Oh, and I'm going for the rustic, uneven rows look. I'd forgotten my chalk line at my day-job construction site, so bought a new one. Was going to shift the shakes up and down a bit along the new row chalk line. Then it dawned on me that instead of trying to mimic a no-chalk-line look with a chalk line, just don't use a chalk line.

It takes me a while sometimes.

Denver Haze

Was driving along a backwoods road the other day and couldn't get that John Denver tune, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" outta my head.

And I don't know if it's just sad, or sad and funny, that I could only remember the lines...

'Life ain't nothin' but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I'm a country boy!'

...then tongue-twanged the rest of the lyrics like a twitchy banjo freak. There's no banjo in that tune that I know of, but it was either banjo it or yodel it. Or bagpipe it.

The Answerer: Mooses

This week The Answerer replies to a Mossonwood reader's question...

"What's plural for moose?"

Mooses.

Moose Sighting

Was driving down the Deerwood road early yesterday morning and come across a young male moose on the road.

The moose turned tail and trotted ahead of the car, turning into the woods just before the gate.

I was hoping that I'd get to see it jump the gate, but no dice.

Deer Trails

'Deer Trails'

When I wander through the woods
I'll often take the deer trails.
Because those lazy bitches 'n bastards
Always take the easy way.

Bill Pocock, 2009

Shake Down

Mooning over the cedar shake packing labels last night I discovered something I didn't want to see.

The label says I need 5 - not 4 - bundles to cover 100 square feet. In the roofing world, 100 square feet is referred to as a 'square'. Both owners of Pacific Cedar in Hamilton told me it was only 4 bundles per square.

So, I went all the way to Hamilton and back - because I thought I was getting a deal - and now I'm five bundles short. Maybe I can get some more bundles in Parry Sound....

Rookie mistake. Read the label. Buyer beware. Trust no one.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Blah...blah...blah....

Cedar Shakes!

Yesterday I did the long haul down to Hamilton and picked up the cedar shakes for the FMO roof.

I really did make an effort to use some local pine to make shakes of my own, but decided on cedar instead because...

• Pine shakes need to be treated with preservative to have a fighting chance against sun damage. As I want to test a rainwater storage system on the office roof, I don't want wood preservatives added to possible drinking water.
• The pine trunks I tried to split either didn't split straight, or were to knotty and wouldn't split at all.
• I couldn't skid the large pine logs to an area where I could work on them.
• A shingle froe would cost me $100 used probably once. I'd also have to purchase a draw knife and build a special work bench.
  
• The FMO tarp is leaking from the near constant rain now and I want to close the roof ASAP. Spliting pine shakes for roofing takes a loooooong time.
• Buying cedar shakes is EASIER!!!!!

So, while the rain comes down, I'll pre-nail the shakes inside the leaky office in preparation for the hand nailing...when it stops raining.

Cargo Sleds

Visions of cargo sleds have danced through my head of late.

Like a good little logger, I want to use the snow to help me haul wood out of the forest for fuel and timber use. I could cut, spilt, and stack the fuelwood in the forest during autumn in piles beside the main trails. Then, in winter, I could sled the wood piles to the fuelwood sheds for storage.

From what I've seen, there's two main types of cargo sleds.

The 'tub' style cargo sled.


The 'ski' style cargo sled.

For hand pulling, I'm more inclined to go with the tub style sled. The ski style looks like less friction, but more difficult to fabricate.

There's some ribbed sheet metal laying around I'm gonna think through for sled material in a bit. If I could build some removable sides, I might even be able to haul milling logs out of the woods too.

I never know until I try.

Dragonflies Rule!

Dragonflies freaked me out as a kid. They're so huge and the thought of them biting me gave me the willies.

Now I know that dragonflies eat mosquitoes and other insects that really do want to bite me.

The other day a dragonfly zoomed over my head and landed on a rock nearby. I took a closer look and realized it had caught and was now eating a horsefly that was about to land on me. It was great fun to see the dragonfly close-up as it rolled the horse fly around it's mouth slowly eating its prey.

Here's part of the Dragonfly Wiki entry...

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. Dragonflies are similar to damselflies, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most dragonflies are held away from, and perpendicular to, the body when at rest. Even though dragonflies possess 6 legs like any other insect, they are not capable of walking.

Dragonflies are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic.

Nymphs can deliver a painful bite when threatened. The wound should be cleaned thoroughly to prevent water-borne infections.

Dragonflies Rule!

Wood Stove Blues

Guess I shouldn't wait too long between blog posts when reporting that Deerwood is practically crawling with bears.... It is amazing how quickly I've accepted that 'crawling with bears' thing and am willing to walk through the forest at night without a flashlight.

Even yodelling or whistling is often too much of a chore now as I embrace my ultimate fate of going mono e mono with a bear. Having a loud whistle and sharp sword strapped to my back is a comfort, though. My only hope is that I'll be able to blog the tale and thus secure my glory!

Anyhoo, my current struggles are with Deerwood forest management office (FMO) wood stove installation. After half-carrying my Drolet Compak stove to the FMO, I laid out some flat granite on a sand bed and mortared them together a few days ago. This stone pad for the stove stand on. Then it was off to Home Hardware to drop another wad of cash for the chimney parts. See the diagram below for the installation diagram...

Installing a cathedral ceiling wood stove chimney.
Not as fun as it looks.

Complying with the building code requirements is a juggling act as I try to keep the internal stove pipe away from combustible surfaces. At one mad moment last night I considered covering the entire north wall with 29 guage galvanized sheet metal. The challenges of actually cutting the metal to size and mounting it pulled me back from the edge, though.

As much as I'd like to get the chimney install done and over with, I realize that the tarp over the roof must go. If that's the case, I need to strap the roof with purlins and nail up the cedar shakes just before the chimney inspection in order to reduce the amount of time that the roof is open to the rainy elements. Submit building permit for wood stove, almost finish roof, assemble and install the chimney, get inspected, finish roof. Oh, and because the roof is a steep 18/12 pitch, I have to make my own chimney flashing from sheet metal stock so the roof doesn't leak. Now I'm researching MIG sheet metal welding techniques....

So, next step is getting the cedar shakes up from north Hamilton (Pacific Cedar) on ma's next run down south. That means the FMO will be choked with chimney parts all over the place for the next few months. Hope the holey FMO roof tarp doesn't drip too much between now and then.