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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
Now where's the fun in that? I'll use any excuse I can to hand hew a log into something
Great update Mike
Work's kept me pretty busy these days since being called back to full duty status. I really liked getting up early, putting in my time and having some hours left in the late afternoon.
On the shaving home front, the other day I had some work to do around the house and then a party to go to late afternoon so I didn't want to get off my shave schedule and did the unthinkable...........I did an out of shower shave at the sink I gotta admit, I got a much smoother shave even without taking a shower first, but the shave didn't "last" as long as my normal shower shaves. I'll also say that I enjoyed the shave much more at the sink than the shower. I did notice more irritation at the sink, but that could have been the lack of a shower beforehand. No power this morning so I had a really quick 2 pass shave at the sink to get acceptable for work and then out the door.
On the personal side of things, being back at work has slowed my project finishing to a halt! We did finish clearing and burning the brush over at the cabin just before it got somewhat dry around here. Good, safe burning conditions for the 4 weekends we had massive fires going on. I'd cleared and mowed a nice safe place for the burning. We lost power last night at about 6 pm so I decided to get out my axes and hone / strop them. My Sandvik belt axe only needed so serious stopping to get her back to where she needed to be. Nothing else to do with the power out and having a couple of hours of daylight to work with. The power came back on at 8:30 pm and then went out just before my alarm this morning at 5 am. Where I live, we lose power if a squirrel farts too forcefully. I swear we are on a loop or something that gets shut down if there's a problem anywhere because it's always the same 500 people without power. We lose power 6-8 times a year for really no good reason.
This weekend I tackle putting in the last window for the cabin. I'm also looking at outside options. I'm thinking of doing log skins so it will look like a log cabin. If I have them sawed so I can hew off an inch or so it will look like an old log cabin. I'm checking the cost of that with a local sawyer. Then it's time to chink.......the chinking costs more than the timbers! It's all on hold though until I find out about agency and department cuts that are all but certain. I may be furloughed and if that happens I won't be spending anything on the cabin this year. There's plenty over there I can do that's just my labor.
On the shaving home front, the other day I had some work to do around the house and then a party to go to late afternoon so I didn't want to get off my shave schedule and did the unthinkable...........I did an out of shower shave at the sink
I gotta admit, I got a much smoother shave even without taking a shower first, but the shave didn't "last" as long as my normal shower shaves. I'll also say that I enjoyed the shave much more at the sink than the shower. I did notice more irritation at the sink, but that could have been the lack of a shower beforehand. No power this morning so I had a really quick 2 pass shave at the sink to get acceptable for work and then out the door. On the personal side of things, being back at work has slowed my project finishing to a halt! We did finish clearing and burning the brush over at the cabin just before it got somewhat dry around here. Good, safe burning conditions for the 4 weekends we had massive fires going on. I'd cleared and mowed a nice safe place for the burning. We lost power last night at about 6 pm so I decided to get out my axes and hone / strop them. My Sandvik belt axe only needed so serious stopping to get her back to where she needed to be. Nothing else to do with the power out and having a couple of hours of daylight to work with. The power came back on at 8:30 pm and then went out just before my alarm this morning at 5 am. Where I live, we lose power if a squirrel farts too forcefully. I swear we are on a loop or something that gets shut down if there's a problem anywhere because it's always the same 500 people without power. We lose power 6-8 times a year for really no good reason.
This weekend I tackle putting in the last window for the cabin. I'm also looking at outside options. I'm thinking of doing log skins so it will look like a log cabin. If I have them sawed so I can hew off an inch or so it will look like an old log cabin. I'm checking the cost of that with a local sawyer. Then it's time to chink.......the chinking costs more than the timbers! It's all on hold though until I find out about agency and department cuts that are all but certain. I may be furloughed and if that happens I won't be spending anything on the cabin this year. There's plenty over there I can do that's just my labor.
Always good to see an update from you. And sink shaves? Welcome to the civilized world
I almost felt civilized shaving at a sink, like sitting in my wine tasting chair and admiring a kangaroo pelt
I think I'm in a rut with the shower shaves. Easy clean-up, no worry of flying lather, and a huge time saver......it's all corrupted me!
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Glad you could pop in Mike! Sounds like things are coming along well. Hope you and the family are in good health!
I also forgot to detail that I've got visitors beside the road into my cabin. Surveillance intel below:
The doe was alone for about a month then this small buck decided to hang out and other shots have a group of 3 deer roaming through this area at about the same times every morning and evening. Young deer, but nice to see them coming back into the woods since I've cleared roads and trails and brush. It's nice to have eyes on the property when I can't be out there.
The doe was alone for about a month then this small buck decided to hang out and other shots have a group of 3 deer roaming through this area at about the same times every morning and evening. Young deer, but nice to see them coming back into the woods since I've cleared roads and trails and brush. It's nice to have eyes on the property when I can't be out there.
That's a nice looking doe! Even if she is a little young. It's good to see wildlife like that on your property. It means the area is healthy and there is food there for them to eat. I know you are doing a lot of hard work to set up your property...but man...I envy you right now with that area and not having to see people when you are there. A little bit of paradise!
There's actually a couple of groups of deer wandering past that camera. The top one is a doe but the bottom one is a buck. If you look closely at his head, there are velvet antlers starting to grow there. There's also another buck with bigger velvet antlers that is also coming by there.
My goal for the land was to manage it. I'm finding that to own land, you have the responsibility of developing it and keeping it healthy. For 4 Saturdays straight we've been burning brush. Much of it came from me trimming trees up as far as my poll saw could reach. Now the sunlight filters through in small patches and air moves through the woods in the areas I've cleared so far. Deer like to see and hear and I'm finding other animals like the same. Just last weekend I saw some crows chasing a hawk away in the sky. The long term plan is to plant more hardwoods like oaks and also someday when I sell my property because of being too old to live at home I will do so with a deed restriction that no private or commercial lumber or motocross activity may be conducted on the land. This will establish it as a forest forever.
It is a little piece of paradise for sure Don. A huge blessing!! It's a strange feeling sometimes to know that you own a little forest. Each tree you touch is yours. I've never had that opportunity until moving out here. I plan on building a wood shed for the cabin out of timbers I cut, hew and stack myself with half dovetail notches. I'll stack and season wood that is cut to clear things out and once seasoned it can go into the woodshed. I'll bring the cadre along on that project too. I have to build a 2-3 foot stone and mortar foundation first. This will keep the sill log up high enough to remain dry. With some spraying for bugs, that woodshed will outlive me for sure.
That's awesome. I have 7 acres, and I'm trying to re-forest about an acre of it. Eventually more. Really want a place to encourage more animals onto my land.
They'll come KJ, I used to hunt that land years before I owned it and there wasn't much wildlife there at all. With the roads cleared and maintained and clearing things out, I've seen a lot of wildlife making their way back in. Funny thing is, I must be getting soft because I don't want to shoot the animals coming back in. I guess you spend so much time welcoming them in and creating a place for them to roan and it changes things a bit. If the deer population gets out of control I will have to take a few out just to keep things in check due to there not being a super amount of predators to help with that. We have a roving pack (huge pack) of coyotes that sometimes makes their way through and they do help, but they are not permanent residents.
I had to take a half day today to watch my girls and finished up a plains Indian style sheath for me. Yeah, that's right for me, can you believe it? I traded for an authentic buffalo skinning knife years ago - the real deal from the mountain man times. It's had some miles on it and even has some dude's initials carved into the handle with the second letter being backwards which really lends to the fact that this thing was used during a time when people couldn't read or write much. I love it - took the dog for a walk and felt like a proper mountain man for ones having this big bad knife in my belt. Saturday I was flintknapping 3 knives and my hands got dang sore, so I just decided to lay-out and glue the sheath. Today I clinched the brass tacks and cut the belt hole. No sewing needed with all the tacks I put in it. Dang I love it!
Yes, you did catch that......we got a new dog, another rescue from the shelter. His name is Luke and he's a 1 1/2 year Puggle. Dang good dog. I'm training him, but the beagle in him is stubborn. I call him SGT Luke because that little dude is afraid of nothing! He also barks at everything which is what a dog is supposed to do. I WANT to know if a squirrel farts in the tree outside at 2 am. He lets me know that and I appreciate it.
Pictures of the knife and sheath will be coming tomorrow!
Yes, you did catch that......we got a new dog, another rescue from the shelter. His name is Luke and he's a 1 1/2 year Puggle. Dang good dog. I'm training him, but the beagle in him is stubborn. I call him SGT Luke because that little dude is afraid of nothing! He also barks at everything which is what a dog is supposed to do. I WANT to know if a squirrel farts in the tree outside at 2 am. He lets me know that and I appreciate it.
Pictures of the knife and sheath will be coming tomorrow!
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice dog but when I'm sleeping I couldn't care less about squirrels farting in trees 
Thanks guys!
Well, I shoulda followed someone's advice on here and avoid the COVID thread. He knows who he is! It got me off-track for a bit, so I'm not posting there anymore and feel good about that. I like everyone here too much to go down a road of bickering over it. Shaving is what is important and sharing our lives and encouraging one another is where it's at. I need to come here and walk away feeling like I'm in the plus zone, and that's what TSC excels at.
On to shaving....oh yeah, I haven't forgotten about posting a picture of that knife sheath I made for myself, I just haven't had the right moment to get outside and take a picture in good light. I guess I'm enjoying wearing it too much around the house. Ok onto shaving. I wonder if anyone out there has noticed a problem with their Parker Variant seeming to have one aggressive side and one more mild side. I thought it was my imagination, but it really is beginning to feel that way. I check blade alignment every morning and it looks fine.
On the Mammoth Painting side of things it's been very lean. Shaving now with Williams Mug soap, I don't really want to smell like it so I hit the chest hairs with my bootleg Bay Rum. Now that my wife uses my leftover soap to do her lady shaving, I can't really go with something manly hence the lack of Mammoth Painting. I know @NurseDave has been missing my reports on this
On the personal side of things, I've been having some arthritis issues with my hands. I've gotten sore before, but this is an every morning thing for weeks on end with one finger feeling stuck in the morning. I just thought it was one of those power through it things and that all this 18th century work just needed to whip my body into 18th century shape. Odd thing was that this morning I woke up and it was all gone! Hey, I'll take it. Sometimes it's the little things you have to enjoy.
On to shaving....oh yeah, I haven't forgotten about posting a picture of that knife sheath I made for myself, I just haven't had the right moment to get outside and take a picture in good light. I guess I'm enjoying wearing it too much around the house. Ok onto shaving. I wonder if anyone out there has noticed a problem with their Parker Variant seeming to have one aggressive side and one more mild side. I thought it was my imagination, but it really is beginning to feel that way. I check blade alignment every morning and it looks fine.
On the Mammoth Painting side of things it's been very lean. Shaving now with Williams Mug soap, I don't really want to smell like it so I hit the chest hairs with my bootleg Bay Rum. Now that my wife uses my leftover soap to do her lady shaving, I can't really go with something manly hence the lack of Mammoth Painting. I know @NurseDave has been missing my reports on this
On the personal side of things, I've been having some arthritis issues with my hands. I've gotten sore before, but this is an every morning thing for weeks on end with one finger feeling stuck in the morning. I just thought it was one of those power through it things and that all this 18th century work just needed to whip my body into 18th century shape. Odd thing was that this morning I woke up and it was all gone! Hey, I'll take it. Sometimes it's the little things you have to enjoy.
This is actually one of the best posts I have read here at TSC! Not the part about the COVID Thread...but the encouraging part! And yeah...I don't read that thread anymore either. I found myself arguing and resenting certain members. I don't want to live that way. It's not worth the blood pressure rising. So I am with you...stay clear and be positive!
Please don't forget! I'm definitely interested!
Yeah...I wouldn't want to smell like Williams either...though I do think it has a nice fresh scent to it. Now Bootlegger's Bay Rum..Yeah...that is some good stuff there! And @NurseDave isn't the only one missing out on the Mammoth Painting updates!On the Mammoth Painting side of things it's been very lean. Shaving now with Williams Mug soap, I don't really want to smell like it so I hit the chest hairs with my bootleg Bay Rum. Now that my wife uses my leftover soap to do her lady shaving, I can't really go with something manly hence the lack of Mammoth Painting. I know @NurseDave has been missing my reports on this
Sorry to hear about the arthritis...I am sure it can be...not so pleasant. I hope you find a good solution for it.
Great post and looking forward to those pics!
That's really what we do best here at TSC! All the main characters here have positive words to say and a good ribbing or two when needed and that's always fun. That's the plus I come away with. We do have a good bunch of members here and I choose to focus on the positives.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Get on it man! Sharing is caring!