I found “around here someplace”.

Whenever my wife or I can’t find something that we know should be in plain sight she often says “It will turn up” or “It’s around here someplace”.

A few weeks ago while we were at our cabin, my carabiner of keys attached to a belt loop was no longer on my belt loop.  Fortunately, I was at our cabin with my wife who also had a set of keys.  I searched all the obvious places, including aiming a flashlight down the outhouse.  At the time we had about eight inches of snow on the ground, and so the keys could have dropped anywhere.

So we had a new set of keys made and I bought another carabiner to hold them.

Yesterday, I was heating up the sauna to wash up later.  As I walked out the door, I scanned the area for my missing keys.  Lo and behold, there in the snow was a metallic orange device; it was my missing carabiner and keys.  The snow had melted enough to unhide them.

So, now I know “around here someplace” is just outside our sauna:)

We have water in our cabin well!

Our 20ft deep pitcher pump well has been dry for at least five years.  This winter we had over six feet of snow, with a max accumulation of over three feet.  Now most of it is gone and we have puddles in low spots on our trails.  We haven’t had so much water in these low spots for years.

So, I gave the well a try.  Well, first, I had to replace the flapper because I had taken the old, dry one out.  But first I had to find the 9/16th socket wrench that I had gotten out of my tool box.  I looked all around the floor of our SUV and the ground around.  Finally, I found it in front of some other boxes. 

Then I had to get some primer water.  For this I used a jug of fresh water we brought from Duluth.  Then I had to find containers for the water.  One was a muddy pail and the other was a “5-gal” joint compound pail that I had used for mixing Quikrete.  The condition of these containers didn’t really matter because we weren’t going to use the water for drinking or washing.

I got the pump put back together and pushed and pulled the handle.  It met resistance rather quickly.  Hurray!  Progress!  Then ploosh!  Out came a nice stream of clear water.  I filled my containers and took them to where my wife was burning old wood in the fire pit.  If nothing more, it sure beat using our fresh water or finding one of the few remaining snow piles.

I don’t know if I’ll bother testing this water or dumping some bleach down to kill whatever.  I think we’ll just use it for the sauna, hand washing, and fire dousing.

Only two questions remain.  Will we have water in the well through to next spring?  How many years will it be before it goes dry again?

For now, I won’t think too hard on these questions.  We’ll just enjoy the extra convenience.

Wooden-headed woodsman

On Saturday, May 11, I was using a draw saw to cut lengths of downfall into fireplace lengths.  I was working on smaller pieces, three-inches or less in diameter.  Many of these had branch stubs that would make it difficult to lay a good fire.

To cut these stubs, I placed the pieces vertically in a section of my saw horse to stabilize them and then would cut down.  Sometimes I would hold the piece above the stub, sometimes below.  The latter was more stable.

As I was doing this, I noted that my work gloves were mostly fabric, not leather.  I told myself that I should be careful.  That worked for about five pieces and then the saw hit my hand.  Oh, drat!  My glove had a small shredded patch!

Hm, I better check my hand.  Oh, I have a good cut there and it's bleeding a bit.  I licked at it a bit to minimize the blood flow and went inside to get a bandage.  Hoo boy!  It started bleeding more!  I grabbed three or so pieces of facial tissues to sop up the blood.

I found the first-aid kit and managed to open it without getting blood on it.  Grab more tissues to sop up the blood.  My wife had gone to the Brimson post office.  Should I call the post office where she would be visiting with other neighbors and ask her to come back to the cabin?  Should I call 911?

I managed to get a bandage on just before my wife came back.  She suggested that I also put bacitracin on the cut, and she bound the wound up better than I had.  We changed the bandage(s) often as they became soaked.  By sauna time, there was little blood flow.

Of course, as I sweated in the sauna, the latest bandage loosened up.  No big deal because the bleeding had stopped.

My wife had washed up and gone back to the cabin.  I washed up and started to get dressed.  As I put on a sock I bumped my thumb.  Oh, great!  It's bleeding again.  With no bandages around, I just kept licking the wound.  I got the other sock on with a spot of blood on it.  I managed to get into my pants but no way was I going to put a shirt on with my thumb bleeding.

I put my feet in my boots and grabbed my shirt and jacket to get back to the cabin.  At least it wasn't freezing.

Once back at the cabin, I put another bandage on and could finish dressing.

Over the past week, I've put bacitracin and a bandage on twice a day.  The wound is healing nicely and I can use my thumb for most tasks.  I still bump my thumb with various tasks, but my only reaction is a grunt.

Have I learned my lesson?  Probably not.  There will always be another situation where the most convenient way of doing something is the riskiest, and in the interest of saving time or ...

Where are my glasses?

We've all heard about the grandpa or grandma who wondered where their glasses were and finally realized their glasses were on their head. Been there, done that, too many times with reading glasses and sunglasses.

This weekend, this situation took a new twist. I have a pair of wraparound sunglasses that have rubber bow covers. One of the covers is loose and has come off many times, and I've been able to find it rather quickly.

On Saturday the cover came off and I couldn't find it. I retraced my steps since I knew it was on. This was a difficult search because it could have dropped anywhere on dozens of feet of grassy paths around our cabin. I searched and searched to no avail.

Just before supper I went to the sauna to take a makeshift shower. As I took my T-shirt off, I felt a twig on my shoulder. The twig was the bow cover!

On Sunday the cover came off again and I couldn't find it. I retraced my steps again and again to no avail. At supper my wife gestured and looked at me like I had a big bug on my head. She finally managed to say that the bow cover was perched on my ear!

My head had been sweaty enough so that the cover stuck to my ear as I pulled off the sunglasses.

I hope I've learned my lesson for a few days. Until I glue the cover on, I check that it is still on the bow when I take the sunglasses off. We shall see, we shall see.