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bugs
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2009 09:21am
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Spent a wonderful edo weekend at the shed. Had perfect weather for a change.
The grass see that we spread a couple of weeks ago is starting to sprout and the natural vegetation is really starting to encroach in on the lane. Compare the pic of the lane taken Aug 30 with that just after the bulldozer was through.
We have extended the cedar mulch pathways so we can now walk to the privy and the cook shelter without getting muddy if it rains. We have also put down a mulch tent pad for visitors.
The cook shelter now has a plywood roof. And we added a sink stand for washing dishes and hand washing. We are using environment friendly soaps in pump bottles which is a nice luxury. The solar shower works great.
The place is getting very comfortable especially since we know all the "mega" projects are hopefully over.
Lane Aug 30
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yard01
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yard02
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kitchen shelter
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bugs
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2009 09:27am
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Just a couple more pix from our latest visit to the shed. There was very little wind for part of each day which made canoeing around the large pond incredible. Just sitting in the canoe listening to the waterfowl sounds, coyotes howling and looking at the views.
cabin from pond
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reflections
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morning mist
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golden pond
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bugs
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2009 09:35am
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Biologically speaking the weekend was great. We watched a bald eagle eating a poor duck and then after its meal it took a bath. As I mentioned above coyotes were howling every morning and evening. Lots of deer in the fields. The beaver lodge in the large pond we thought was empty but each morning we watched as three beaver worked on renovations. The waterfowl are starting to congregate in flocks so there were lots on the pond all day along with a number of great blue herons. The nights we were there three young great horned owls "serenaded" us. And there were a number of tiger salamanders on the move. These are near the northern edge of their range in SK so it was interesting to see them at our place.
I guess this is what this whole project is all about!!!!
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cabinbasics
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2009 04:50pm
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VERY NICE! Thanks for the wildlife pics - that's what it's all about! Pretty noisy nights though, did you get enough sleep?
We've had a screech owl at our regular home neighborhood for a few weeks. Cute hearing him at night, but getting to be a tire now!
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bugs
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2009 09:34am
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Spent the Labour Day weekend and last Sunday out at the place. Thankfully no screech owls and the great horned owls have switched to morse code hooting until 2 am. Still better than sirens.
We spent the time posting our property lines for the upcoming hunting and snowmobiling season. Not sure if it will do any good but we will see. The waterfowl are starting to form flocks now a snow geese are on the move in big flocks. Had the usual good views of the local vulture soaring over us and a bald eagle flying at tree top level.
We also worked at tidying up the mulch paths at the yard site, put up eavestroughs and, with weedwacker and chain saw in tow cleared about a mile of trails. We hope to have about 3 miles of hiking trails cleared in time for snowshoeing season this winter.
At least most of the mega projects are now done and we can sit back and enjoy the results of our labours.
path
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N trail before
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N trail after
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coots
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bugs
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2009 01:19pm - Edited by: bugs
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We spent four days up at the shed over the last weekend in Sept. After seeing many "cabins" with porches etc on the front we decided to manufacture a small deck for the door. (Note the frost on the deck temps dropped from 27C on Fri to -2C Mon.) Since our ranger can only carry things 39 inch wide between the wheels we were a bit limited in size. Still the deck turned out well. All the lumber was from the reno store for $5. Can't beat the cost. We also moved the shower to beside the privy to reduce the breezes going up the nether regions when we were showering.
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bugs
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2009 01:26pm
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The trip was really super for wildlife. Whether it be small or large. The moose was taken from our new deck and the raccoons were in a pond at the bottom of the hill where our shed is. The coyote was just ambling down the road just by our place.
chipmunk
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coyote
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raccoons
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moose
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bugs
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2009 01:30pm
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We hit the waterfowl migration in full swing. 1,000's of geese of all types and ducks were flying and a few other birds.
bald eagle
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vulture
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geese
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snow geese
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bugs
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2009 01:34pm
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And also some great fall colours just starting and sunsets as the clouds and cold front came in.
field and clouds
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morning pond
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sunset 01
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sunset02
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CabinBuilder
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2009 04:05pm
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Great nature pictures!
Thanks for sharing.
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swanugly
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2009 12:17pm
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real nice pics , what a great spot . lots of wild life and its rite at your doorsteps .awsum .
we use the same kind of shower , they work great
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SmlTxCabin
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2009 03:53pm
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I cannot belive what amazing views you have of wildlife. Moose I would love to see a bull moose in the wild. I have only seen females and some babies. That is so beautiful. What a wonderful spot and cabin!
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watersound
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# Posted: 19 Oct 2009 10:37pm
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thats what it is all about bugs We live in a very small town but getting away to the land and being part of our enviroment gives us a better understanding and respect. We are going to build an 8x12 cabin or maybe a 10x10 with a loft for our 2- 7yearolds to sleep how do you find living in the space? the covered eating tent is a great idea. I am going to see if my municipality will allow it.
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bugs
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# Posted: 22 Oct 2009 02:48pm
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Hi watersound
The 70 odd square ft that we have for living space (The walls of our shed are insulated 2x6 construction so that cuts into the usable sq footage.) in the "shed" is quite adequate for our needs. As you can see from the pictures the convertible couch/bed we made works really well. The open storage shelves are fine for our utensils, packs etc and being open there is less chance of uninvited guests to set up a nest compared to a closed cupboard. We also have a small table and two chairs for eating in the shed when it is too miserable outside. So we are quite comfortable. But we are used to backpacking in the mountains and getting tent bound for a week in a 1.5 person backpacking tent. So the shed is spacious and very comfortable in comparison.
We too thought about a loft but it would have put us over our budget. And lofts and ladders late at night at our age are not the most fun things. I suspect you kids would have great fun tho.
I have noticed a few things I would do differently tho.
The door swings in, which is fine as we were able to put on a screen door. But the main door is hinged flush with the side wall so we could not put up hangers behind the door when it is open. If I had specified the hinges and door frame to be 4 or 6 inches away from the inside side wall then we could have "hung things behind the door".
Another thing is heating. Our shed is too small to safely put in any type of wood stove of reasonable price. Also the thought of putting a hole through the wall or the ceiling and roof just does not appeal to me. So we are going to try heating with a Mr Heater propane stove for now.
I am hatching a plan, in my feverish little brain, to construct an outside wood burning furnace and then vent the hot air from the furnace through a window into the shed. There would be no need for worrying about CO problems as all combustion would be outside and be separate from the hot air going into the shed. This is still in the "hatching" stage tho.
If I had to design the shed again I would put in a firebox on one wall similar to the ones you see on houses with retrofitted fireplaces and the chimney running up the exterior wall of the house. We have one of these and it is cantilevered into the floor of the house so no exterior bracing is required for the fireplace or chimney. I cannot see why this could not be done on a "shed" scale and then heavily fire proof/heat proof the firebox nook and chimney box. Then put in a small wood stove that can be bought from many places. No real interior space would be lost to the stove itself and the various clearances required for safe burning.
The roofed pergola works great as a cook shelter and seating area to keep us out of the rain or give us shade. Maybe a problem unique to our situation is that we have put our yard site on a hill so we have a wonderful view of our big slough and sunsets (as you can see from our images that we posted). This is great when it is hot or buggy as we always have a breeze. But if it is rainy or cold the breezes can be a bit much when you a trying to cook!
Overall tho we are pleased with our setup. There is a bit too much space between the cooking shelter and the shed but there are likely bear in our area so this might be a good thing!
According to our information if the structure is less than 100sq feet and is not on a permanent foundation ie it is movable on wheels or skids, or connected to services ie power, gas or sewer the municipality does not require a building permit nor can they really increase any taxes as they/you don't know when the "shed" etc could be dismantled or moved.
Cheers
bugs
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 22 Oct 2009 04:19pm - Edited by: CabinBuilder
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Quoting: bugs we are going to try heating with a Mr Heater propane stove for now
I thought about it too, before we installed a small woodstove.. Let us know how it works out for you - winter is coming... ;-)
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2009 06:50pm
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So we finally made it out to the property after almost 3 weeks of rain, snow and freezing temps. It sure is fall, but a wet one. Everything looks bare and forlorn.
Everything was as it should be except one of the benches I had made was somewhat dismantled. I had made the bench seat from old 2x4's lying around and then I cut an 8 inch aspen tree trunk into stove lengths. Stacked three together they make a nice support for the bench. I had put one of the benches by a pond with an abandoned beaver lodge that I find enjoyable to sit by and collect my bugs. Well during the three weeks we were away beaver moved into the lodge and must have thought someone had ordered them take out as they hauled three of the aspen logs away that I was using for my bench and chewed the bark off the other three. Go figure.
Another interesting thing happened with some bluebird boxes we put out this spring. Something ripped 4 of them off the fence posts they were on and smashed them.
Still another curious thing was a No Hunting sign we put up way out in the middle of one of the fields was pulled down. I used 3 inch bolts and inch washers through 5/8's in plywood screwed into a fence post. The top bolt was ripped right through the plywood and the bottom bolt bent 90 degrees before it pulled out of the fence post. Just got to wonder what goes on sometimes.
One thing we did discover is we will have to get some gravel in next year. When we were leaving the frost had gone out of the ground so everything was mud. I had to take two runs at one the hills to get out and at the approach I got stuck and was just able to spin out onto the road in 4x4. So I guess it will be about 60 yards worth of gravel. An expense we were hoping to avoid.
beaver bench
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shed from across the pond
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lane
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bugs
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2009 10:03am
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We went out to the property the other day to check out our proposed heating system; a Big Buddy Mr Heater. Turns out we had snow out at the place so it was fitting we were testing the heater.
The outside temp was -3C and the inside shed temp was +2C. We hooked up the heater to the prescribed 10 ft hose and ran the hose out a window to a 20 lb propane tank. Opened a window for ventilation and fired up the heater on hi and set out the CO detector. Then we went for a "stroll about the grounds". (Saw a coyote walking across the ice on the big pond and a fisher while we were about. We were so stunned to see the fisher coming down the tree we forgot to snap a pic.)
About 1/2 hour later we opened the door of the shed to find it very toasty. We set the heater to low and enjoyed a pleasant lunch basking in the warm.
At floor level the temp was +10C, at waist level +17C and at the ceiling +28C. So we have to figure out how to get the air circulating a bit better. The heater comes with a fan which uses D batteries or it can be plugged into an outlet. Guess until we get our solar panel system set up we will be using the batteries. There is no thermostat on the heater either so it will be a process of manually turning it on and off as needed.
The specs say the heater will run for 25 to 100 hours on a 20 lb tank depending on heat setting.
So CabinBuilder I think the heater should work quite well for our situation. It saves us dealing with a wood stove and all the effort of putting in the chimney and getting firewood. Not to mention loss of space. And for us a wood fire is not much of a novelty as we have a fireplace at home (We burn 3 to 4 cords of wood a year.). And we can always have a fire in the fire pit if we want.
We are looking forward to spending some enjoyable overnight snowshoeing trips to the shed this winter.
lane
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coyote on ice
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outside
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inside
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RickandRandy
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2009 11:19am
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Amazing Bugs!
I love the winter pics, and those look like million dollar sunsets... and all the wildlife! wow...
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bugs
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2009 10:19pm
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As the weather is unseasonably nice for Nov we decided to try an overnight stay at the shed and give our heating system another test.
Over night it got to just below freezing outside and the little cabin was about 50 F when we woke up in the morning. Still comfortable enough while in our sleeping bags. We put the heater on hi and in about 10 minutes our Buddy heater had the place up to room temperature. Then we set it to low and were quite comfortable. We tried out the battery (uses 4 D batteries) operated fan but we found it to be ineffective in distributing the heat and quite noisy. So we have to come up with another solution to circulate the air.
We still have to cook out side on the Coleman but it went okay. We enjoyed supper watching some movies on the net book sipping home made crab apple wine and some good British Hobgoblin beer (Tepid as god intended it to be drunk!!).
We had another great sunset with the colours being reflected off the ice of the pond. The night sky is really terrific out there. No lights except from a yard light five miles away and a glow on the horizon from a small community 25 miles away so the stars and Milky Way are really spectacular. The Leonid meteor shower was on while we were out too. Added bonus. Can't wait to see some northern lights.
On one of our walks this little weasel ran past us carrying a vole in its mouth. It stopped when it saw us. Put down the vole and came toward us and climbed a couple of feet up a tree and just looked at us. Unfortunately it was too close to fit it all in the picture frame. After a couple of minutes of this it decided we were not worth looking at any more and picked up its vole and scampered off down the trail happy as can be. And then after our walk we got back to the yard site and looked across the slough to see two bald eagles sitting on a muskrat house.
We also spent an afternoon clearing a walking/snowshoeing trail through the bush.
So it was another successful trip out to the "shed".
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Moontreeranch
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2009 12:26am - Edited by: Moontreeranch
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nice critters bugs! Up where you are the aurora borealis should be sweet. I remember from my college days in the upper peninsula of michigan some great light shows...winter is the time for that so I hope your heater serves you well, Our cabin is at 36 degrees latitude so our chances are greatly reduced...we did however have t-shirt weather on thanksgiving....at least until late saturday night before the snows came.
cheers
Kevin
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flatwater
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2009 10:23pm
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All I can say is WoW and you don't seem to let any moss grow under your feet. I notice you have not mentioned anything about moose or I missed it. Looks like some natual area for moose and isn't that close to the central flyway for snow goose and greater and lesser Canadian geese?
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flatwater
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2009 10:27pm
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Oh one more thing. Why do cabin builders put the door under the eaves where snow and rain runs off the roof? If the door is on the end of the cabin it is so much easier to add a porch to keep the door free of debri.
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hosssask
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2009 03:08am
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just wondering if you went out when we had that cold weather last week. if so how did you make out. cause i was darn cold in regina. take care and merry christmas
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flatwater
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2009 07:52pm
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Quite impressive Bugs. I have always loved the outback of Canada.I do have a few questions for you.
#1 How are the masquitos in the spring
#2 you talk about snakes, What kind.
#3 How cold and amount of snow in the winter
#4 Would 6 feet of water hold Bass ?
#5 and the last. Do you ever plan on moving there perminently?
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bugs
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# Posted: 23 Dec 2009 08:18am
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Answers to questions:
Hossask--We went into hibernation mode for that frigid weekend. Just went out to get more wood for the fireplace and feed the birds. Sure "hardened" us off fast! Have not been out the the "shed" since the last weekend in Nov. Work kind of gets in the way of life sometimes.
Flatwater: Yes we seem to be right on the edge of the flyway that runs through the Quill Lakes region and the Last Mountain Lake region of Saskatchewan. So lots of waterfowl and shorebirds of all types.
I am not sure why the people that built our cabin put the door under the eaves. We are planning to do some sort of over hang or porch over the door. Kind of ran out of steam this fall. Will be something we will look into next year after we get the solar power set up.
And to your other ?'s
#1 Yes there usually are tons of mosquitoes in the spring and early summer. But as the temporary ponds dry up the breeding habitats are lost, save for the thunderstorm pools which can produce more mosquitoes. By the way I would rate as the scariest "animal" in Saskatchewan right now is the mosquito Culex tarsalis which is a vector for West Nile Virus. If conditions are right and the overwintering females can get an early start tarsalis can complete three generations by sometime in early July and in some areas most of the females will be carrying the virus. One bite can kill some people or cause paralysis and other nasty symptoms. Some people however appear not to show any affects at all.
#2 We only have two types of garter snakes this far north in Saskatchewan. Farther south near the southwest border there are a couple of other types of snakes including rattlesnakes.
#3 We usually, as Hossask was alluding to, get some periods of -40C with wind chills to -50C each winter. Normals about this time of year we are around -15 to -20C. Snow accumulation has been extremely low this year. Less than 3 inches. However the south is at this moment in a blizzard so hopefully we will have enough snow to enjoy some winter sports soon.
#4 Likely 6 feet would not hold bass. We have not found any fish in our largest slough/pond not even sticklebacks or minnows. In Saskatchewan bass only occur in one reservoir down in the extreme southeast corner. The rest of Saskatchewan has fish like northern pike, walleye, lake trout, etc.
#5 Never say never. I am still shocked that I have "wasted" money and gone back into debt again to buy some land. So if our circumstances change we might end up out there. We would have to build a larger cabin, at least 600 square feet with a full basement (Then I would not be able to contribute to the forum cause in my opinion anything over 200 square feet does not qualify as small.) I have run a home based business for the last 20 years so it would only take a slight adjustment to arrange things with my clients so I could keep working as normal.
bugs
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flatwater
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# Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:21pm
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I started out small , 12x16 then added a little for a total of 500 and will put on another 400 before we make the final move and although it isn't real small anymore , the additions I add are small and most of the concepts inside are small. This is just to good of a forum to give up on because of size.
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RickandRandy
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# Posted: 21 Jan 2010 11:50am
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Hey Bugs, thanks for your post. I am so jealous of all the wildlife you spotted... we see animal tracks in the snow everywhere but have yet to actually see any of them! we joke that they probably wait until the coast is clear and sneak right by us.
Love your outdoor shower too!
Rick
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Yonderosa
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# Posted: 21 Jan 2010 07:30pm
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Great little place.
I'll second the recommendation for the Big Buddy heaters. It keeps our place (340 spf) toasty warm when the outside temp is sub zero F. Once brought up to temp the low setting will hold room temperature. A 20 pound propane tank will last most of a week in that weather.
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bugs
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# Posted: 23 Jan 2010 05:56pm
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We decided to go out for a day to the property last week to see how things are doing. Have not been out since the last week of Nov. Other than no real snow (although we are in a blizzard right now) things were as they should be.
Yonderosa--- Yes the Buddy is great. We still have not exactly figured out how to circulate the air in the shed so the ceiling is not 30 C and the floor 10 C (We could bring our pet cockateil to fly around the shed but I don't think she would like that). The fan on the Buddy is a bit weak to be any good. Methinks we will be getting a solar fan or something.
R and R --- We have been real fortunate with the wild life so far. I suspect this spring when we really start to do some serious wildlife photography with blinds and big lenses everybody will hide.
We usually park the truck at the entrance to our drive way and walk the 1/3 of a mile into the yard to just see what tracks are on the driveway before we drive up to the yard. Last week when we did this we saw two coyotes crossing the driveway where it meets one of our trails. They were just trotting along doing what coyotes are supposed to. All the trails we cleared are now super highways for all the wildlife. No need to break trail as they have already done it for us as can be seen in one of the pix.
So far we have identified over 100 species of animals from moose to mosquitoes. And we have a list of about 100 plant species to go with it. Next year when we really start working on the survey I expect to get an additional 120 to 170 species of aquatic bugs alone (based on previous research I have done on sloughs/ponds) to add to the list. But sadly unlike your place R and R and many others we only have 5 or 6 spruce trees less than a 3 feet hi. Our property is just a bit too far south (by about 20 miles) to get into a nice aspen/conifer mix.
We have also found out that our property is right in the middle of an area that is considered as an "endangered space" due to its importance as a migration staging and nesting area for waterfowl. So that is kind of nice to learn.
wildlife trail
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beaver lodge
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cook shelter
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RickandRandy
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# Posted: 1 Mar 2010 12:01pm
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Wow, well even if there is a lack of tall trees in your area, there sure is no lack of wildlife and I'll bet you get more sun than you can shake a stick at. One downside of the trees though is that you do not get as much sun as you would otherwise. We can't really see the sun-rise, unless we go to the very edge of our property where there is a hill. We at least get the late morning to early evening sun in and around the cabin thanks to the meadow the cabin is in. I am reminded of another property we visited before buying ours, it was in a densely treed area, and there was NO sun whatsover. I even drove there on a sunny day at high-noon just to see what the sun situation was like, and nothing! even if I took down every tree on that lot it would have made little difference, so that was enough to be a dealbreaker for me, so I see the un-obstructed sun as a major plus, not to mention the views.
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