I Buys Me a Shed for a Cabin---PICTURES!

joelcolorado · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 654

You better be a redneck and be careful down there. Lots of meth and other drugs and ppl very closed up. Dont even blink or you wind up dead.

BigTex

Rogozhin

West Texas looks amazing! I watched the movie 'no country for old men' and I believe that most of it is shot in West Texas, just beautiful!
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"Those who long for exaltation look upwards, but I look downward for I am the exalted."

Thus Spake Zarathustra

Heineken

Today I returned from another two-day trip to "Silverdeer."

I completed the deck and attached a "skirt" of treated 2-by lumber that runs all the way around the shed/cabin, concealing (and protecting) those ugly cement blocks it sits on. I'll post some updated pics fairly soon.

I heard coyotes howling their heads off. They sound very much like wolves.

Again it was surprisingly cold during the night. I was again shivering in my summer-weight sleeping bag. Next time I'll bring longjohns.

Handgun in hand, I took a long hike out into the surrounding pine timberland, which stretches for miles. I gobbled blackberries. I have the idea of packing a mountain bike down there and riding.

This morning I spent weeding around pine seedlings with my sickle.

I have a large Coleman "Xtreme" ice chest. It's supposed to be able to keep food and drinks cold for up to five days, and it sure does a fine job. I recommend this ice chest for anyone looking for a good one for long trips into semi-wilderness.

Now that the cabin is in place and finished, I'll return to my trail-building work on my next visit.
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"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Heineken

Here are updated pictures showing the completed deck and "skirting" around the cabin (to hide and protect the ugly cinderblocks it rests on). Man oh man did I work to finish these additions!

In the background you can see a couple of the pines that make up most of the 50 acres. They're 23 years old now. In about 7 more years they'll be sawtimber.

_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

strider3700

I'd run some form of wire mesh down to the ground to help keep rodents out from under the main structure. This becomes critical if you insulate the bottom.
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shame on us, doomed from the start
god have mercy on our dirty little hearts

PeakOiler

Good job, Heineken. Don't forget gutters and a 1550 gallon rainwater tank.
Smile

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About my avatar: Guess.

dunewalker

Very nice, Heineken. Too bad it's "Republican Blue". I need to put some skirting like that around my cabin, it would also help keep the wind from blowing all the soil away from under the piers (desert here). You've got a real sanctuary now, which may be just the ticket ...
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"I believe that a wise Vermonter lives more by lack of expense rather than from income."--some Dartmouth professor from across the river

frankthetank

Looks great!

I'd figure out something to store some water in and put up a shower. Then you could get the sweat off from all that hard work!

Plenty of open space there for an orchard too... You better get ordering! I could squeeze at least 10000 apple, peach, plum, cherry, paw paw, pear into that open space Smile

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"Oil is going up because we use too much oil, and the capacity to replace reserves is dwindling"
-President Bush 11/07/07

Heineken

Strider: The wire mesh idea isn't bad, but I'm not sure it would really keep out mice. They can squeeze through almost any gap. Except when I'm there, I don't plan on keeping much in the cabin (as I now call it), so there won't be many hiding places for them within the structure. I can put some rat poison underneath, if this becomes truly unavoidable, although I'm very nervous about that because I can easily see my voracious dog scarfing some up. I have two other sheds on the place where I live, and they do have occasional mice problems, but they're crammed full of all sorts of crap.

PeakOiler: Don't think I'll bother with gutters. The rain can just run off; I'll mulch around the base to prevent mud splatter. The roof area is very small so it won't collect, or shed, much water. As for keeping a big water tank, I don't know. Someone could poison it in my absence. I'm more interested in the idea of a small well with a hand pump, hidden in the bush nearby (which is incredibly dense in places). Of course, someone could poison a well too, but it would be far less conspicuous than a water tank. I need to think and learn more about the water problem, not just on the tree farm but on the place where I live. Ideally I'd like wells with hand pumps on both places.

Dune: Thanks. It gets me away, truly away, from it all. As for the color, I have plans to paint the structure in camouflage colors.

Frank: I own a "Sunshower," but it seems simpler to stand naked on that deck and dump a gallon or two of sun-warmed water from jugs all over me. That feels so delicious after a hard hot day of work! I will plant a few trees around the cabin for shade. A couple of Illinois Everbearing mulberries, maybe a magnolia or two. The clearing I'll keep mowed (or scythed, if it comes to that) is about 1/3 acre. You can see only a tiny piece of it in the pics, but the rest of the field (7 acres) is already planted in loblolly seedlings.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

joelcolorado · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 654

Mix some dry cement with flour and put it under your shed with a pan of water. Mice eat the flour and cement then drink the water and die. The lye in the cement keeps them from smelling.

Works like a charm.
jk

PeakOiler

PeakOiler

The new shed I bought a few months ago is just for storage. I'm still burning out the roots/stump of a cedar tree:

Once the stump/roots are burned down sufficiently, I'll level the ground and put a 1,550 gallon tank in that spot. Then I'll install gutters on the shed (note the metal roof) and plumb this tank:

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About my avatar: Guess.

Heineken

I'll admit to some paranoia. Remember, this property is 75 miles south of my residential farm. I'm down there only about five days out of the month, tops. Although it is extremely isolated, this can work against you just as much as it can work for you.

I will not be growing food there; it isn't practical at this distance. So I don't need irrigation water. I may hunt there, though. Also, I may plant a few perennial food plants that can take the heat and drought.

Your water tank is interesting, PeakOiler. How much does it cost, including delivery? How do you keep the water in it from going bad? (For drinking purposes, I mean.) Do you add a little chlorine? Or do you treat or boil or filter water you remove from the tank, if you want to drink it? I assume the tank is filled with runoff from a roof. Doesn't that add particulates to the water (bits of leaves, twigs, bugs, etc.), which then proceed to rot? Maybe there's a filter at the intake, but when water is rushing in from a rainfall, a fine filter wouldn't have time to handle the load. How do you remove sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the tank? Can it be turned on its side and the inside washed out with a hose? (How heavy is it, when empty?)

Please teach us more about the water tank.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

BigTex

Nice skirting Heineken.

Have you written a theme song for Silverdeer yet? You ought to get started on that if you haven't.

How about a Silverdeer flag? You'll need one of those.

The same Silverdeer symbol that you put on the flag can be used for the gate to the property and for a belt buckle you can have made for yourself.

Maybe something like this (I think that's a pile of silverdung next to him):

Here's something to sort of get you in the mood (sing it to "You Are My Sunshine"):

***

Oh Silverdeer
You are my doomstead

You make me feel secure
When the world falls apart

You'll never know Silverdeer
How much you mean to me

Please don't take my glorious Plan B away
(especially if it's TEOTWAWKI or TSHTF)

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Smile