Writing my way out of Blind Fish

The insect that was drilling through my piece of foam yesterday came out in the night to rove around in the plastic bag. It turned out to be a wasp, so I let it go out back. I was thinking it was a carpenter ant, which mean real trouble to a building, but I’m less worried about a wasp.

Today was going to be a rainy day, so before it began I picked up some materials around the tin shed extension and took my squared timber inside the workshop where it can dry out in preparation for my band saw mill that I have yet to build. I hooked up the motor assembly from the auto-caddy I’m dumpstered from Moncton big garbage, and it works at a decent speed. It only draws two amps when it’s not under load, and that’s at 12 volts. This may be the device I can use for the sawmill.

That is a bigger project however, and so I set it to one side to work on the sliding table top I installed in my antique table. Now I can do my writing at a better angle for my arms and back. I finished editing Lost in the Tunnels, but I was too tired to work on new material for it, so I went to edit the Santa Claus story from last night. I wasn’t particularly inspired for that story either, so I took a nap instead while rain poured down and filled my cisterns. I’m glad I cleaned out the water system when I did, for this rain more than filled them again.

I converted another old cordless drill to a corded one today as well. (I heard on CBC that the average use time of a drill in the United States, which is likely the same as Canada, is thirteen minutes over its lifetime. What an incredible waste that people get drills and never use them. I have ruined two so far by hard work and I think the motor is going in another one.) It is a nine volt but seems to work well enough on the cabin’s twelve volt system. So now I have three drills working off cabin power and one cordless I charge by means of a solar panel.

I checked on the garden this evening and the slugs were already on one of the small squash plants and have likely killed it. They’re hard to keep ahead of. I’m going to try chilli powder tomorrow, since I’ve heard some good things about that and I have some from when I tried to drive off the mice before I completely sealed the cabin.

Now I am awake and I’ve had my dinner and I’m ready, if not inspired, for writing. That took me through some more work on Lost in the Tunnels, so it marches forward.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Writing my way out of Blind Fish

Writing and Building

Today was quite productive, even though I was to sleep fairly early considering I’d had a nap, and then slept in quite late. I was awake by ten or so when outside it had begun to warm up. In the cabin it was fifteen although outside it was closer to eighteen degrees.

I began my day by making a bench from the 2 x 12 Mike had given me, using braced legs from 2x4s. IMG_8117_smallThen I ripped one of the slabs from my saw mill career in the last few days, and used the pieces to make the door for the tin shed extension. If it seems as though this is taking a long time that is because it has. The weather has been dry and I’ve felt no rush. I work on it when I feel like and when the bugs are a bit more moderate. Today the mosquitoes, at least in the morning, were few, so I installed the door, braced it against a supporting timber, tied that in with some of the galvanized metal that makes up the rest of the shed as well, and then put in a few widows and siding in the back of the building as well. The shed is nearing completion now, OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAalthough some tedious cutting of metal lies in the future. When the mosquitoes began to gather their numbers for a more serious assault, I pulled back into the yard and cut some wood as well as trimmed some more bushes around the garden. The hundred foot extension cord is a real advantage. I can go a long way from my power source fairly easily and have that make no difference at all. I have yet to string all my power cords together, but I could probably reach two hundred feet, although I imagine power drop along the cord would be much higher.

The afternoon after my shower, I worked on editing Blind Fish, Lost in the Tunnels. I am nearly done this edit, and then I can start working on the next portion of the story. In about ten thousand words that book could be done, so theoretically I could have a decent copy by the time I go back out west.

There has been an insect chewing in my wall lately. Since it is in the foam it sounds quite loud as it makes its nest, or explores, or whatever it does. This evening I was surprised to find, when I tracked down the noise for the umpteenth time, that it was coming from a piece of foam in a box of scraps. That is much easier to deal with. I blocked the holes and put the piece of foam in a clear plastic bag. Now we’ll see who it is.

I did some fiddling around with my pull out drawer to supplement my writing table, but I still haven’t put together a perfect solution. It would be nice to have a lower area for writing purposes, but although I am closer to designing it, I am not done yet. Similarly, I finally cut to length the piece of hornbeam that I want to use to make a bow. Now it merely waits my inspiration.

Before I went to sleep I took the word processor to bed and worked in my Christmas book. I wrote an informal essay about Santa’s ubiquitous nature in our culture and the ramifications about that lie for children.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Writing and Building

Back with my Mouth

My trip to the city was successful after a fashion. I never was able to visit some of the people I wanted to see, but within hours of arriving on Tuesday, I was in a dentist and paying two hundred and fifty dollars to have my molar fixed. It feels less like I am deteriorating now.

I stayed in Fredericton for two days lining up courses for the fall and dealing with some other business. Now that it is Thursday, I am back in the bush. It was nice to arrive today. The bugs have died down a lot, partially because it was quite a bit cooler. It never rose much beyond twenty degrees all day. When I arrived, I began by making a tour of the garden. I see a pea pod coming as well as a few zucchinis from my one successful plant. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI will definitely plant zucchinis again. They do well, and the slugs don’t like them, as long as they have good soil depth and they get their start. Slugs like them when they are young and this plant is the only one that survived out of five I planted in that bed. After looking over my plants, I began cutting the last slab off the log I was working on before I left. Once that was done, I cut up the rest of the wood in the sawhorse and ranked it in the woodshed and then went into the woods with the chainsaw after dead poplars that I have just east of the cabin. There are at least six or so that OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAhave died standing and it is a simple matter to cut them down, snap off their dead limbs and haul them out to the sawhorse. It is now full again, and when the conditions are right and I feel up for more work on my wood stores, I’ll cut them up.

Once that was accomplished, or at least when I was too tired and hungry to continue, I went inside for a snack and then slept for a few hours, making up, no doubt for the late night and early morning.

This evening I watered the garden, and repotted some lettuce in my hanging planter, and then cut some small bushes east of the cabin to clear it out a bit. The mosquitoes have really died down. It’s apparently going to be cold tonight, so maybe in the morning I can get some work done on the tin shed extension. I should finish it and put away the building materials and clean up that part of the yard. Maybe if the bugs hold off, I’ll work on the new bridge too. Ann would be happy about that if she manages to come by on her way back from work.

Posted in Gardening, The Cabin, The Land | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Back with my Mouth

Editing and Slabbing up Logs

Even though the mosquitoes were bad today, I went out early and cut up some wood before breakfast. I have nearly gone through the huge pile I had at the start of day, and then, after breakfast, I alternated between slabbing up the log I’d pulled from the woods yesterday and doing some work on the latest Blind Fish novel. I’ve only made it through a fifth of the novel on this pass, and haven’t started any of the additional work, but I cut a slab off three sides of the log and have only the fourth side to go. Then I will decide to either slice it up for drying purposes, or store it as a squared timber.

I watered the garden again today, and noticed I am almost out of water in my white jug under the porch eaves. My hot water half-barrel is running out as well, although I still seem to have lots of drinking water. I need to clean the drinking water barrel but I’m reluctant to empty it when I’m not sure when it’s going to rain again. Someone is running a generator this evening. It sounds like the same person who was hammering lately. It’s a relief to be this far back in the woods so such sounds are dimmed by distance.

While the sun was dropping, I decided I would set up a new way of suspending the water barrel under the eaves of the porch. I built it while it grew darker, and then left it to finish tomorrow.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , | Comments Off on Editing and Slabbing up Logs

Gnashing and Editing

There was a bit of rain in the night, but it was still a hot and sunny day today. I pulled out the log I’d cut and peeled yesterday, as well as watered the garden, but most of the day was occupied with editing my second book in the Blind Fish series, Lost in the Tunnels. It is a decent draft, with nearly thirty thousand words that cover most of the story as far as it goes anyway. I will have to work on it some more, but before that, I will finish the on screen editing. Tara will be happy I am getting closer to completion.

That occupied me during the heat of the day, and when it began to cool off I opened the windows and went to sleep, waiting for the thirteen degrees the radio had promised. The cabin stays at five to seven degrees Celsius below ambient temperature on a hot day, which is a relief, but I am hoping for Wednesday’s rain, although I won’t be here. Hopefully, I’ll be in the dentist getting my broken tooth fixed.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , | Comments Off on Gnashing and Editing

Breaking out the Teeth

I was awake early today, perhaps, although without a watch I don’t know. I ate a leisurely breakfast while listening to the Saturday radio programs and then tackled the tree I found yesterday that had fallen last year. I cut it up, making a video of the electrical system while I was at it, and then peeled the fourteen foot section that still stood, after I cut it down as well. I have it ready to move into the open near the cabin so I can cut it into a squared timber. The smaller section will likely end up the same, although the piece with problems are destined for my woodshed. Some of them are already cut up, for I spent some time on the saw horse today as well. I also cut some smaller trees out back, and one of the maples in the front and the fir that used to house the robin’s nest a few years ago. It was becoming a pain in the butt as it grew, and prevented light from getting to the chives and mint as well as rest of the yard. I’ll still have lots of shade from the birches and maples that are still around, which is a good thing right now, since it is thirty degrees during the day.

I’m not sure when I’ll go to Fredericton, since I broke a side off a molar today and I’d like to have it repaired as soon as possible. I wonder if there is anyone who specializes in quick fixes. If so, I have no idea how to track them down.

Later in the afternoon, when I was tired and hot from wood work, I watched some more of The 100 series. It is annoying how they think the only way people live is by betraying one another. Everyone in the show will not compromise and lie and betray each other constantly. Partly that is a delay tactic I would guess, so they won’t get to the main confrontation which would end the show. It is now late evening at some unspecified time, and I’m looking forward to working on Blind Fish. I’ve nearly read the entire book again, up until the point that I have to take notes on who is who, and soon I will be ready to start on the sequel which is now only in draft form.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Breaking out the Teeth

Going Upstream to the Illegal Dump

I had a few tasks I wanted to accomplish today, but that was delayed when I woke to a dream which lent itself to a story for my Code World book. Ideas seem to come in dreams this summer. I got out of bed at a time I am unsure of since my watch doesn’t work, and then I wrote until I had a rough draft of the story. Then I thought it would be a good day to walk to the bridge upstream and check out the illegal dump site.

Accordingly, I set off on what used to be a fairly clear trail only to circle and end up on my own trail to the swamp where I’d photographed the bear prints this morning. I tried the same trail again and had better luck, although there is so much growth there now I am uncertain of the logging roads I used to follow.

Soon I was splashing along in the creek going upstream and fighting the flies. The mosquitoes, perhaps because of the heavy rain lately, are quite bad, and the deer flies are out in full force.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The only thing of note on the stream was the blue plastic barrel which is over half full of cement tipped into the stream from a cottage above. If it were empty I would have taken it, but as it is I will have to wait to see if the winter freeze cycle breaks up the concrete. Also, it’s worth noting OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAthat the beavers have moved further upstream where they have built a rather amateurish dam nearly under the bridge.

There was no exciting trash and actually all there was other than tree limbs and boles was some concrete and an old barbeque. I think I saw the same barbeque at a camp on the way to the main road earlier this year so I think I know who pitched it there.

After I came home I was more than ready for a shower, for I carried in some cedar and the plank Mike gave me on my way from the pallet shed.

Once I was showered, I moved the latest writing pieces, my blog, the piece on Von Neumann machines, and the story “Immersion,” to my computer. Then I watched a few episodes of The 100 before I put the world map on the ceiling and did some cleaning in the new part. The sawdust was getting out of hand and now it is decorating some plants east of the cabin.

I have my golf caddy in the new part and it may be time to think about making it into a bandsaw mill. That is a bit of a project though, so we’ll see how that goes.

Tonight I think I’ll just listen to music and rest on the futon. It is quiet and birds are calling in the distance. I am too fuzzy headed to write and not yet ready to start the procedure of working on the middle book of Blind Fish.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Going Upstream to the Illegal Dump

Plans and Rumors of Plans

My trip out of the bush didn’t work entirely to my expectations. We always think our lives will go well and then we are confronted by the grim and even sometimes sad reality.

I went to Fredericton in the afternoon and hung out with Mike and Carol, which was a bit more pleasant. I also managed to get a lot of editing done although I didn’t have a chance to chat with everyone I wanted to, but I had at least one delightful conversation and that cheered me considerably. Also, it helped to upload Vested Interest, a better copy of In Light of Ray, and finishing the editing on Working for Ray.

I was asleep by three in the morning, but I was able to finish up my book work before I left for the bush.

I came straight to the cabin, partly because I wanted to bring my laptop here and finish reading Nat’s book, but also because I wanted the trip to be a bit more direct and less hard on the head.

My car is wobbling in the front end and it has gotten worse. I’ve checked the left front tire before and felt nothing, but the problem is so pronounced now that when I knelt to feel the tread I immediately felt the prick of wire. The broken belt that I suspected has become so bad that it is bulging enough to vibrate the steering and to increase wear in one spot. That means the tire is about to blow, so I took it easy on the way home. I thought it might be a good idea to get to the bush and dig out my spare tire I keep in the pallet shed so that I can change the tire. I’ll do this near the end of my road near the pavement where it is level and there are likely less bugs. I should source another 14 inch tire as well so the aluminum Acura rim has a good tire on it.

When I arrived at the cabin, hauling my laundry, groceries and my laptop, I first did a tour to make sure none of my plants had been eaten while I’ve been away. The garden looked good, the extension on the tin shed looks like I left it, and in other ways the cabin is in good shape. I packed away my clothes and food and then hooked up the laptop to the power system using the car laptop adapter. It beeped alarmingly, but worked well and I was able to make some progress on Nat’s book. After I was reading a while, I began to notice small typos, so I made a note of them and I’m going to email her and let her know. I’d like it if someone did that for me, and I’m sure she’d like to know what her eye had missed.

I took a break in the middle of reading and dismantled my raised bed garden, which hasn’t been that successful anyway, so I can use the metal on the tin shed extension. I disturbed the small snake that hangs around the garden, but it couldn’t be helped.

Afterwards, I showered, snacked and then finished Nat’s book so I could shut down the laptop. I bought it off Amazon so I am using a cloud reader to see it, and that means I either have to reload it or keep the laptop on and hibernating.

It is a good book. It has a nice mix of character description and development and adventure and island ambiance. She’s a great writer.

Once I’d completed the read, I went outside to trim some bushes in the eastern part of the yard and found a large tree had come down in the winter, or perhaps last summer. It is a fir, and broke off twelve feet or so from the ground. I came back for the axe and cleared away limbs. I think I’ll slab it up and see if I can get some use out of it. Likely it has some carpenter ant damage or it wouldn’t have come down, but I can still make some use out of it.

When I was taking a walk to see what was happening down at the swamp, I found some more huckleberries to eat and watched some frogs. The land is dry though, so there is little water flowing by the bigger swamp. On the way back I was surprised to see OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAsome bear tracks about forty metres from the cabin on my trail. The tracks seem to indicate a nearly full grown bear. I wish I’d seen him or her walking through the yard but likely they were scared away by human presence. One of the tracks was going towards the cabin and the more recent one away. They are at least a few days old, and maybe as much as a week. There were deer tracks as well, and some older moose tracks, but they are not as exciting.

This evening the air is still. I’ve watered the plants because I expect no rain, and I’ve made some plans for modifications I can make to one of the sliding doors as well as the door between the two parts of the cabin. That one I can cover partially with tongue and groove cedar, which should make it more airtight and attractive. I think I can overlap the inside to make it more sealed in the winter as well. The sliding door could use a latch.

Later this evening, as dark approached, I taped up the edge of the world map Dennis gave me. I’m going to hang it under the roof as part of the ceiling in the new part. That will brighten up the place, which it doesn’t need, and be nicer than looking at timbering and strapping.

Far away, near the creek, I can hear the pounding of a hammer. Perhaps Bashful is building something. Whoever it is, I am reminded that I saw a truck hauling some lumber to a camp. I should check the illegal dump site in case someone has discarded some good scraps I can use. That way I can check out the beaver dam too, if I take the trail through the woods and along the creek. That may be the agenda for tomorrow.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Plans and Rumors of Plans

Construction and Writing Stories

I knew today was going to be busy, since it is supposedly going to rain tomorrow, but I woke to two dreams this morning, and one of them, at least, was so vivid, that I wanted to get it down as a story.

Therefore, as soon as I washed up, I wrote the story “On the Run” which is meant to be part of my Code World series, and then immediately wrote a draft of a shorter story about buying a baby at the dollar store, which was a conversation that I had with Miriam yesterday. What if you could, I asked myself, and then wrote “Dollar Store Baby”.

This sounds as though I didn’t get much done, but I also went out after breakfast and finished the timbering and the roofing for the extension on the tin shed. Now I have used up the short pieces of roofing Miriam and I got at the roofing place scrap bin, and have more room to store lumber. It is not a very tight building, so it won’t keep out mice and maybe even squirrels, but I only plan to fill it with lumber so it may not matter. I have one window in it so far, and a skylight from the last scraps of my skylight material, and I plan for a few more windows. I have them so I might as well use them.

The mosquitoes and deer flies were terrible by the time I finished the roof and it was really a matter of will and the impending rain that kept me going. But now the roof is over the structure and the floor shouldn’t get too wet if it pours.

This evening, after my late afternoon shower and dinner, I did some editing work on my two most recent stories, an essay I wrote a few days ago, and my blog up until last night. I’m pretty happy with the stories and happy to be producing as well. Nearly all of the stories I’ve written this summer have been from dreams. Strange that I can’t seem to think of fully formed story ideas otherwise. I spend too much time with a hammer in my hand in the summer, or thinking about lumber and construction. That doesn’t seem to be conducive to writing.

The sun was weak and fading when I finished my editing and rather than wear out my batteries I left the Ray books for another day. The battery is sitting at 12.8, which is as low as I’ve seen it. The laptop seems to draw between one and two amps, although I could reduce that if I took out the dead battery. I keep it in for surge protection, but if I was working at night I would have to remove it.

I listened to Ideas this evening on CBC and the show was about a book I might use for teaching: Sapiens, a brief history of humankind by Yuval Harari

I was thinking as well, since my theory book is selling so well, that I should put together a book on Lacan as well as a literary theory essay book.

Posted in Literary Theory, Literature, The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Construction and Writing Stories

A Quick Trip to Out of the Bush

I woke up to a squirrel running across the roof this morning. It was early, I could tell that by the angle of the sun, which is lucky since I don’t have a functioning watch anymore. I just missed a chance for a photo of a yellow bellied sapsucker while I was eating breakfast, but other than that it has been quiet around the cabin in terms of birds coming close.

My first priority this morning was doing a trip to the pallet shed for materials and then laying the floor. That was done fairly soon, and since I wanted to go to Millville and see if I had any messages about work, I left for the road again quickly.

I pulled a few plants I thought were poison ivy by the stream the other day, and now I am extra cautious as I wade back and forth. I drove to Millville to find Miriam had the day to herself, so I invited her to Woodstock where I wanted to check on half inch foamboard and buy some groceries.

Miriam and I splurged as well and got some snacks, and visited the dollar store to see if they had a compass I could buy as a cover photo for my Working for Ray book.

On our return, stopping on the road for fox pups playing, we watched some videos and then I left, dropping her off at the church where they are again redoing the work of last year for inculcation of the other children. It is a delight to spend time with her and seeing all three of the kids is one of the highlights of my summer. Where would I be otherwise I wonder.

This afternoon, after I returned, I set to work putting together some timbering for the extension of the tin shed. I have the plate together and three studs as well as one rafter, although to look at them they might seem unworthy of the names. Tomorrow I should try to get the roof on at least, for it is going to rain tomorrow night, theoretically, and all day Wednesday. I mentioned to Miriam that I would come again on Wednesday and we could do some stuff together. She’ll be grown soon and I’ll rarely see her.

Posted in The Cabin, Writing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Quick Trip to Out of the Bush