Sunday, January 25, 2009

Gertee gets a new tarp roof cover! The leaking stopped!!!!

Free entertainment in Kenny Lake
"Tim chases a muskrat"

A muskrat crossed the yard when Tim was helping with wood.
We watched it run and "hide" in an icy puddle.

It stayed in there long enough to get our cameras.

Suddenly Tim grabbed it by the tail and pulled it out.
It happened so fast I didn't click a pic until it fell.

Tim chased it to the Hostel where it ran underneath.
It was pretty funny when he crawled right in there to catch it.
Muskrats make a funny looking track.

Roadside view of gertee's new roof cover.
I'll trim it once it gets back above freezing.

Kept the side with the "window" underneath it clear.
When it warms up I'll have a screened opening here.

Frozen felt and soaked floorboards.
I'm melting it with hot boiling water, an inch at a time.

Pulled up 1/4 of the floor coverings, a mix of Radiant Guard, recycled wool fabric and actual carpet pieces. What a mess. The back side is frozen solid, has one big chunk of ice holding 3 layers of wool together. That area may have to wait 'til breakup. The up side of it warming up to 40 above in January and everything melting and then rain, was there was one nice day with no rain and no wind, just enough daylight to put the new silver 30x30 tarp over the roof. Rick, the local "walking man" just happened to be walking by and helped me out. Thanks Rick! No matter how long it takes me to thaw and clean up this flood, it won't happen again in the "real" spring.

Working on Camp Redington again. The Hostel officially opens May 15, 2009. The campground will re-open June 1. All varieties of campers and camping equipment are welcome. I think this summer it will actually be possible to host an ACL week long seminar/party in August. I'm giving it a lot of thought as I'm dragging wet carpet around. :) I'm also starting the gertee book finally, so I'm guessing my blog focus is about to shift, heh.

Can't stop thinking what it would have been like if we had responded to Seattle with GSY.

2 comments:

Nana Babs said...

And I thought I grew up primitive just because I had an outdoor toilet and a water pump in the corner of the backyard. You are such an encouragement to me to know that this can be done. You go, girl, And warm blessings for the the remainder of the winter.

Babs in Tennessee

Niki Raapana said...

Thanks Babs! My mom grew up without indoor plumbing too and she thought I was nuts for living in dry cabins in Fairbanks back in the 70s. My gertee is really not that unique in Alaska, there are a lot of primitive dwellings across the state. What makes it a bit more of a challenge is that it's made of cloth instead of hard wood, but otherwise, the daily chores are all the same.:)

I've never been to Tenessee, but if I do go there it's real nice knowing there's gals like you!

You stay warm too, I heard it was down to 36 in southern Florida!