The Cabin

The Cabin, or should I say, the Double High Knuckle Ranch?

I am moving, out of the Vortex where I have resided for a year, and tried to sell for about 2 years, up to the hills, into a cabin. And when I say cabin, it is definitely a cabin. It has electricity, but no running water. I have a deal with the owners, I fix it up at my expense, and I can live there rent free for a year.

So, I start to do the math. How much is it worth to live somewhere for a year? How much should I allot for rent? That pretty much puts a cap on how much I want to spend.....

The wiring was frightening. Someone who had little or no clue, did it. All the wires went under the house, stapled to the joists, and came up through the studs. So did all the bugs, sage bugs to be exact. Millions of them. I took off all the cheap paneling, and discovered that the majority of insulation was dead bugs. Ick. Oh, and the wasps came in through all the holes up above that the woodpeckers had pecked under the eaves..... hundreds of them. Wasps, not holes.

I don't care to share my abode with the insect world, so I have speedily proceeded to remedy those situations.

I have caulked, I have had an electrician rewire the entire cabin, I have plugged all the under house holes with steel wool, I have gone around with that expanding foam and foamed the hell out of the place. I replaced the R7 insulation with R13. I am putting up sheetrock in place of the paneling. I hope that will do the trick.

I tried my hand and hammer at framing, and put up a small closet. It had none. Now it has one. I moved the wood stove which was sitting on loose bricks ( with hundreds of dead bugs in between) and I am putting in a river rock stone hearth. I am rocking the wall behind the stove. I must admit, it will look so bitching when I am done.

Now the fun part, is that it has no running water. Electricity yes, but no running water. I have a small reservoir tank, which I can fill, which is plumbed to the hot water tank, and the shower and bathroom sink. It has no kitchen plumbing, so this is another challenge. Fortunately, I have a few male friends which are not as plumbing challenged as I am, so I am willing to let them impress me.

Notice I didn't mention a toilet? It HAD a plumbed toilet which I promptly removed and took to the dump. I have absolutely NO desire to haul water, just to flush a toilet, when a readily available and easy solution is to be had. I am putting in a minature version of a composting toilet, AKA the sawdust toilet. Basically it is a 5 gallon bucket, built into a wooden box, topped off with a nice toilet seat that you do your stuff into. Everytime, you cover it with a layer of sawdust or humus type material. It doesn't smell, it is totally hygienic, but it DOES take some getting used to not to flush the toilet. When the bucket is full, it is taken out to the compost pile, covered with more material (straw or leaves) and left to compost for up to a year. The pile is contained so that animals don't get into it, and when it is ready, can be used on the garden.

Seriously! My son Jamie has been using a sawdust toilet for quite some time, and swears by it. I told a girlfriend about the concept, and she put one in her "Shackteau", and said it was the best! Much better than an outhouse by far, and even better than one of those expensive composting toilets which can cost up to a thousand dollars or more.....

I love the internet! The things you find there! That's where I found this. Just google "Humanure".

So I can have my horse up there and ride forever........ it butts up to DNR land, and I cannot wait! That black beauty needs to be ridden.

And me? I can hike "Mels Mountain" and get in shape for the Pacific Crest Trail trek that I keep saying I want to do some day.......

Right from my doorstep.

And the view, yes, I have a view of the Ellensburg Valley.... while sitting on my deck... with a cool one.

I have the whole southern side of the cabin all in glass. For a sun loving gal like me, that is heaven. I have lived in homes where I had no sun, too many trees, and a location on the southern slope (which means way less sun). Depressing and moldy.

Oh, and it has a creek running through the property.... if I go down to it, I cannot see a house, a road, not a soul. That is where I plan on putting the "beer garden" and my hot tub. Now, this is not just ANY hot tub, but a serious hot tub. I will get a claw foot bathtub, build it over a "tube" that runs underneath it, up to a stove pipe on one end, and a little firepit dug in the ground at the other end.

Once you light a fire in the firepit, you go and get a draft going in the "chimney" on the other, and it makes a whoosh like a rocket, and creates a draft for the fire to keep burning. It heats air underneath the tub, and heats the tub up so much, you have to have a wooden board to sit on so you don't burn your ass.

Now you just wait for the cannibals to come out of the woods to see if you are "done".

On a clear night with a glass of wine, stars..... what more could a girl ask for?

Except for maybe that "man" to share it with sometimes.......

He's gonna have to be quite the man, to keep up with me. Doncha think?