The View from the Outhouse

Hello all from Silty Slough. I know it has been a while. I post about as regular as I did my homework in high school over 50 years ago. I squeaked through with good test scores. Some things never change. Please don’t refer to my post as only “The View” when you are sharing it with your friends and family. I wouldn’t want to be mistaken for the program on the main stream media and my ratings go down. I copy most of the posts to my blog on WordPress at siltyslough.com. I have to get a pitch in because it is time to pay up to renew my domain, so I hope both of my readers will kick in a little bit. I also thought about paying for the app Grammarly to improve my grammar. Mr. Whitenack would have been happier, but the rest of you would have thought it wasn’t me doing the writing anymore, so I decided to save the money.

I’m not sure where the last post left off. I can’t go and check the archives at Mar-a-Lago because the FBI confiscated them in the raid. No, in all seriousness the one and only cell tower we get a signal from has been down since the 18th. It is on top of Shell Hill and they have to fly there by helicopter to service and fuel it. They fixed it, it worked about half a day then it ran out of fuel, then they flew fuel out, it worked for about an hour, then it failed, then the fog rolled in and they couldn’t fly. It finally cleared up Sunday. I guess they don’t fix cell towers on Sunday. I watched all day today Monday for the helicopter to fly by. Must be waiting for parts for the helicopter or the cell site. Maybe tomorrow. My Spot emergency locator is supposed to be able to send and receive text messages but so far no joy. So, it’s pretty lonely out here. BTW did I mention Kari went to Michigan for family stuff on the 12th. I have a couple more weeks before she gets back. So far I can’t find the onion soup mix so I can make dip with the sour cream that needs to be eaten before it spoils. I also cannot find the fingernail clips or my mini-iPad. Now I have to clip my nails with diagonal cutters from my toolbox. They are called dikes but I can’t say that. I also have to type this post with my index finger on my iPhone 7plus. We like to keep up with the latest technology here in the slough.

I’ll pick it up with the foam insulation. Statewide Foam came out and foamed the roof, walls, underside of the first floor, crawl space, septic tank, and greenhouse. I wanted to have the underside of the second floor foamed over the hydronic heating plates and also have the root cellar done, but that got screwed up. I talked them into leaving their equipment and having a guy come back the next weekend to do the underside of the floor for only a thousand bucks extra. The root cellar didn’t get any foam. I think I can get a couple foam packs from Lowe’s and do it for about another $800. Too many cooks usually spoil the broth. Anyway the foam is in, the metal is in place above it, completing the roof. In the dry, feels good. After about 3 months of dry weather the rains started the next day. I can’t remember how long it has rained, but trust me, a long time. The river stayed high enough all summer that there was only one time that we could not park our boat in the slough.

Roger took off 3 weeks to guide a fishing trip then another month to work on his honey do list. Kari and I were in town part of the time for FAA doctor stuff. We made a couple trips in the boat hauling more material. When we were at the cabin Cory, Kari, and I did a bunch of interior work while it rained. During the dry spots we finished the porch over the front door. Kari and I tiled the wall and floor in the great room to make a place for the wood stove. We all three hoisted the wood stove up the outside of the deck with a chain hoist, Amsterdam style. The front of the buildings in Amsterdam all lean out. I thought they were just slowly settling into the canals. But they were built that way because of the narrow stairways, the furniture is hoisted up and down the outside of the buildings. Each one has a beam and pulley sticking out. Cory also hoisted a treadmill upstairs for us. Wait till Kari brings the piano out.

A few days during the last couple weeks Roger worked on the electrical while Cory and I tied in the heating for the addition to the boiler and plumbed the rest of the drains that were stubbed through the foam in the crawl space to the septic tank. We also did some outside chores to get things ready for winter.

Late last week Roger’s boat had to come out of the river because the ice man is coming to get us. So no more crew until at least Thanksgiving depending when the river is solid enough to ride snow machines on.

It was 18 degrees this morning with ice chunks floating down the river. They thinned out a bit when the temperature got up to 37. I’m sure they will be back thick in the morning. I’m hoping the snow will hold off until Kari gets back out here so she can land in a plane on wheels. That’s a lot to wish for. Otherwise it’s a helicopter trip for her to get home.

That’s about enough, actually too much for now.

Next post I’ll talk about the wood stove, the treadmill, and why Pete Butegeig is qualified to be secretary of transportation.

Thank you Lord for watching over us.

I’ll be in touch.

Blue skies!!!