Farewell, Old Friend

Today marks the end of an era and the start of a new chapter. Three years ago, we were formally introduced to “Ol’ Skraggly” as the ancient Ponderosa Pine greeted us on our first visit to Sahalee. Such an impressive feature, the woody elder is an immediate attention-grabber and landmark, and was a delightful surprise to us upon learning we’d be sharing the same space during some very precious moments.

Our first encounter c. 2014

Not a feel-good decision, but a necessary one we had to make to remove the ton or more of tinder from the property to help squelch the fire (and misplaced fall) danger. We very much relish all the character the towering giant lent to the skyline before coming down. We invite you to enjoy this musical interlude by the Plain White T’s as you gaze upon the gallery of Skrag’s final day… 

The needle-less snag has kept watch over the grounds for an unfathomable number of years, and it is this history that we most revere when bidding the forest guardian goodbye. A loss for avian navigators and burrowing creatures alike, we grieve the majesty and comfort of the noble’s grand stature. An empty space remains…

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Our good buddy Larry, of Larry’s Power Saw and Tire Shop in Cuba, is a trusted professional, and we were oh-so-happy to have his expert help to lay Ol’ Skraggly down properly. Here’s how it all went down…

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Farewell, Old Friend…

“Worth the Cash or To the Trash” Makita USB Accessory Review

We got very lucky and were gifted two attachments for our power tool batteries that turn them into  multi-port USB Chargers.  We will do a review-of our Makita tools in the near future, but for now I just want to tell you about our experience with this neat little attachment.

There’s not really much to say, the attachment slides right onto the battery. It has two USB ports so you can charge multiple devices at the same time.  My favorite feature is the dust/dirt cover that seals the USB ports when not in use.  I truly don’t understand why more items of this nature (cell phones, chargers etc..) don’t have this feature as fighting the Sahalee Mud Monster is a constant struggle!!

We have several other USB Chargers, that we will review down the road but this one is our go to source for our evening lighting and charging devices.  Not only are we huge fans of something so simple as a dust cover but the cordless power tool batteries just charge so quick.  This saves us from draining our solar power source or from running the generator, which we hate to do.

What’s that?  You own Dewalt or Milwaukee tools or another brand that is not  Makita?  Don’t fret, Makita is not alone in having this handy attachment just follow this link and search your brand to get one for yourself!!

So, even though it wasn’t our cash– We absolutely believe this attachment is Worth the Cash!

Off-grid is the best fitness plan

If anyone is pondering their fitness goals for the new year, I can honestly say that nothing works as well as moving off-grid. Before we had a chance to hit the scales during our visit with the Colorado fam for Thanksgiving, we could only guess at how much weight we had lost since moving to the mountains in June.

Reality bites

Happy December!! Since we are celebrating six months, I guess now is as good a time as any to do our best to explain how we’re making out since La Nina left laughing at us…

Making way for baby

Following through on his threats, our friend Mark showed up from Florida for a long weekend to put in the 12′ x 18′ deck for his little yurt that is due to arrive in early October. In customary fashion, we managed to get the loaded-down HD rental truck stuck in the mud on the way in after the fast-moving rain showers rolled through on Friday afternoon. We walked in for the night and got back to unloading in the morning after the road had dried a bit. (We managed to get the rental truck back to the store Saturday afternoon with ten minutes to spare and no additional penalty!)

Confessions, part 2

Almost three months of being on the mountain, and we’re still acclimating to off-grid living. Overall, things are great and we’re still happy with our decision to go through with this big adventure, but this entry continues where we left off from our original Confessions to provide the full picture of what it’s like to start a homestead from scratch.

I confess…

The Office

Imagine we will have plenty of work to do in building a homestead, but we’re fortunate to have ‘real’ jobs with our awesome company that values its employees and provides the flexibility to work remotely so we can maintain reliable income for future plans.