These pics are really just to show off the awesome quality of the Galaxy's camera

If you can get these at full resolution, zoom in and see the great detail in the flames. Make a great desk top or back drop...

Ya think that little bucket of water back there is going to make any difference at all???

And remember kids, ALL fire is WILD fire. 

Remember that song? "Fire"

No no, not the funky song "Fire"...  The one that starts out with
"I am the God of Hell Fire, and I bring you...  Fire (bbbbaaa)"

Yeah! That's the one, I knew you'd remember it. I don't know why, but it's been stuck in my head,  weird huh?

Misc pics from today's walk about

A real Oklahoma Tarantula

I got tired of fighting with the internet to upload all these pics. 

So used pic collage and put them all in one upload. 

Other pics

Still plenty of life left in that grinder blade...

...and that's what you get when you leave the sharpie so close to the bananas.

Buttoning up - part 2

Finished skirting the rest of the south and west sides of the cabin today. After rain most of yesterday and heavy rain all night, we had a perfect mid-60s overcast day to get things done.  (Before and After pics)

The little alcove between the bed room and the living room was slow going. I added wood so I could lock in the steel skirting, and worked my way around all of the propane and plumbing fixtures, and it came together pretty well. I'll still need to go back and do some calking, sealing and maybe painting to keep the critters and the weather out.

Before

After

Wrapped all the corners to really tighten things up. Got started on lining the base of the skirting with rocks, and can finish that up with little effort.

Will need to do some additional skirting work on the north side of the house, but the bulk of the effort is out of the way.

All of this is being done with steel reclaimed from the fence we're dismantling.   Even used all "reclaimed" sheet metal and lag screws for the project. Have been using the crappiest pieces of steel for the skirting, and saving the cleaner, nicer complete sheets for the next big project:  THE ROOF.

...and then the rains came...

This part of Oklahoma gets 40 to 50 inches of rain a year.  Since we've seen it go for a full month in the summer with no rain at all - it's safe to say that fall winter and Spring get the bulk of what's coming.

If I had let the time lapse run another 20 minutes, , you would have seen the sun come out again. 

Don't get the wrong impression, it rained for the next 20 hours or so. 

Getting some color

The autumn colors are coming, should be very pretty over the next few weeks.

Sunsets.

Really difficult to get these massive sunsets into such small pics. Unfortunately, panoramic shots don't fit into the blog page.

And sunset from the deer stand - about 18 feet up in the trees.

...now that's just wasteful...

Jeeze, after nearly two months conserving water, scrimping on electricity, going easy on the propane and other supplies. Tossing almost nothing. Turning a fence into skirting for the house (and maybe eventually a new roof), even using a broken ratchet strap for a belt...

I burned up a half month of internet data on YouTube videos - to learn how to put on a steel roof.

'Gads.

Finally retired these gloves

I do my best to waste nothing, but today working with a stack of 7 foot razor blades, I decided it was time to break the new gloves out of the package.

Buttoning up for winter

Finally got started putting the skirting around the cabin. I'll post more pics in a day or two as things progress.  The steel comes from a fence I'm dismantling at the bottom of my road.

Will need lots move of this...

 

To finish up all of this

Sherriland Dept of Agriculture

For every hunter, it's a good idea to have a gatherer.   Especially if that hunter has proven less than successful at putting food on the table.

Sherri discovered hickory nuts, and gathered up one or two...

You are here

This screen cap roughly shows the whole property. Quarter mile wide, half mile high.

North of us is a 640 section that is owned by some folks in Texas who never come here. South is another 300 acres, rumored to be for sale.

Could totally sleep up here...

After a long day of running around the property with Sherri. Cut a few trees, ran the weed wacker a bit. All that...  ...up in the upper tree stand on a windy evening

Though the tree is way taller than the 16 foot stand, you're still swaying in the wind in unison with everything around you.

The sun is setting at your back, there is only a small chance you'll have anything to shoot at.

Eyelids grow heavy...

Woah!  Get a grip there genius.   You're going to take a header out of the tree!

Movies...

A couple days with nothing to do at the lake house, and great internet at the cabin has put me on more movies.



Stuck in Love
   Rom-com?  Forgot the com.

Europa Report
   Wow, much anticipated Sci Fi pic.  Could not have a less appealing cast, maybe that's because we have no back story or character development? I couldn't find myself caring if they survived.

Disconnect
   Intended to show all the horrible things that can happen to good people because of the internet.  Worth watching.

Hick
   Strange flick, where the most horrible thing in the movie is blown off. You may have a new definition of "acting crazy" after this one.

The Kings of Summer
   Some surprises, enjoyable I guess. Interesting that one character is given zero development, and serves as the "Kazoo" of the story.

The Ledge
   A bit of a "talking heads" movie, lots of familiar faces and some well acted rolls.  Could cut a half hour of love sceens and not affect the plot.  The first unpredictable movie in a long time.

Monsters University
   Just like every movie ever made. Good guys become underdogs, prove they are "winners", then win.  Yawn.

Battleship
   Absolutely the surprise movie of the fall. I avoided watching this for months, thought it looked stupid.  But really liked it.

Captain America
   Liked the first part, scrawny underdog and all that.  The rest of the movie was pretty tough to get behind.

Pacific Rim
   Just like every movie ever made. Good guys become underdogs, prove they are "winners", then win.  Yawn.

My first Oklahoma Snake

I went to pick up an old piece of sheet metal today, in hopes of using it to skirt the south side of the house. I was completely non - tactical, and didn't really have my head in the game.

I lifted a corner of the metal and realized that it's attached to something. At the same time I realized the entire underside was crawling with - well you know - FIRE ANTS.

I dropped the piece and jumped back - just as a huge black snake shot out from under it toward me. I had just tossed a good sized rock off the road and was standing there thinking frantically "where's that friggin rock?"

Fortunately I DIDN'T find that rock, and he went his way and I went mine. After some digging on the internet, I'm pretty sure that I ran across a Kingsnake.

They eat copperheads and rattlers, so I'm happy to have him around. BTW, may be why this is the first snake we've seen.

Dept of Water and Power: 2.04c

Really using the "all of the above" approach to having enough water and power.

I cut the top off of an old rain barrel, scrubbed the alge out of it, and am using it for a grey water systems (carrying buckets in to flush for now).  It's actually a big relief to be able to flush whenever you want without using potable water.

I have a fence between our land and one of the neighbors. He wants the fence gone and is willing to deconstruct it for me. It will give me enough steel to put a new roof on the cabin. Since none of the roofers will call me back I might as well give it a try on my own. The steel roof would actually give us water that is safe to drink. 

Last night we used the propane heater, tonight I've fired up the pellet stove (for a trip back to the 90s).  

The electric is holding up well, propane and wood help to supplement that. All of the above.