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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving

Today I was super busy but did manage to get in a 2 pass shave this morning. I had to teach a primitive skills class in the morning and then the whole afternoon was spent at the cabin site. Basically all the various parts of the cabin were in stacks including the floor decking. We had a 5 foot stack of floor. I didn't think we could do it, but my wife and I carried each flooring section and put it in place just to get things laid out. We got it out there and got it up on one set of temporary blocks just to get it up off the ground. Then we could move all the other lumber and stuff under the tarp so it to was off the ground. Here I am sitting on the fruits of 4 hours of work holding my trusty tomahawk that's been my friend for many a years. It was hot today and in the mid 80's here with slight humidity. I was drenched in sweat but thankfully the picture doesn't really show that. Mammoth fur makes you sweat pretty good :LOL: Monday we hope to get the piers dug and the floor up on the piers. If that goes well and the floor is on I may just go for putting the walls up Saturday.

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That's a ton of work. For some reason I've been thinking you were going to try to haul the whole thing down in big sections.
 
NurseDave said:
That's a ton of work. For some reason I've been thinking you were going to try to haul the whole thing down in big sections.
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In theory that was possible but there is a meadow with 6 ft tall golden rods and black locust trees in the way. Clearing a swath big enough for something to carry the whole thing and get it back into the woods just wasn't feasible. We're getting it done though and my wife has been a great help due to my hip replacement just being a little over 4 months ago.

My wife and I spent all day Monday working out there and managed to get 1/3 of the floor decking up and level on the piers - oh yeah and digging the piers.....then having to move 2 of them back 6 inches and re-digging the holes for the piers. It felt great to see it and the height of it for the first time. We have a week of rain, but Saturday is going to be beautiful so I have a friend coming over and we hope to finish the floor decking and get it all up on piers ready for the big push on the 31st to get the walls up and the metal roof on it.

Got a super great shave today! I had a 2 day growth so I was up in the DBBS range. Recently I ditched my synthetic brushes and switched back to badger. I'm really enjoying the badger brushes again.
 
Don't faint everyone, but I did take a shave picture today! I had a great shave this morning. I was working with a new blade in the kamasori so it went right through the 2 day growth well on the 1st pass. The brush is a badger brush KJ supplied through his PIF that I won. I never tried it but have been using it for about a week or so and like it. Shaves like this morning's make me feel like 2nd & 3rd passes are just for clean-up. BBS+ for sure. I did something different this morning. I didn't do the witch hazel and just walked out the door with what the soap gave me. I also didn't do the EMJ AS lotion on my whole face. I'm really feeling that the WH and the AS lotion magnify any slight irritation I might get. The results were that I saw no hint of redness in areas that normally get red after shaving and using the WH & AS lotion.

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On the personal side of things, my friend Bill came over yesterday and helped me and my wife finish getting the floor up on the cabin rebuild. It basically was built by the previous owner on one concrete block at each point to support it. You should be at least 18 inches off the ground if not using pressure treated wood to build with so we wanted to get the rear section at least that high at the new build site. With the slope of the ground we ended up with a nice height for the front. Here's the finished flooring. I spent a couple of hours afterwards just leveling things out and putting in Timberlok screws in to join everything together more secure. In the end, everywhere I put my 4 foot level showed me level or darn close. The picture was taken before I did all the final leveling. My friend Bill said it right
When he said "Mike, this is like a small house you know." Another full day, but all I have left is getting the OSB on for a subfloor next Saturday and then I'm ready for the crew on the 31st. I'm hoping Shawn can make the drive and that the weather is good.
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Man...that location is beautiful Mike! I love the location of your house...just beautiful!
 
What a journey in rebuilding the cabin. You're making the site sound like paradise. I might be a city slicker at heart, but I might be persuaded to live without modern conveniences for an extended period of time. Keep up the good work.
 
bentheduck said:
What a journey in rebuilding the cabin. You're making the site sound like paradise. I might be a city slicker at heart, but I might be persuaded to live without modern conveniences for an extended period of time. Keep up the good work.
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There's real value in solitude out in the woods. Before my hip surgery, I'd strap a rifle on and just go out into the hills. I'd tell my wife that I couldn't give her a time when I'd be back and I'd be gone for 2 or 3 hours. I'd always come back with peace and clarity of mind / feeling reset and refreshed. The cabin will serve as a place to do this as well as a place where we can unplug as a family without spending money to go somewhere.

Here's a better set of pictures after leveling was complete:

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