Man's Spa 2015 a Snorefest

Seven snorers!?  It's not possible to know for sure how many participants there were.  We do know that one camper sought refuge in a car at 4 a.m. to get some sleep.

Another first this year was the interruption of the camp fire at 11:00 p,m, Friday night so we could combine our talents to electronically submit a work related proposal that was due that day.  That was fun.  And as expected, it became the basis for one of Tim's improvised songs!

And we almost had donuts this year! Maybe next year?

Thanks to everyone for making it another success.  Special thanks to John for brining his pillow. Here is the official photo of 2015.

 

Reviving an old tool - a scythe

I have mentioned some of the stuff inherited from my parents cottage from time to time, including the rusty sledge hammer and the canoe built circa 1974.

Much older than both of those, however, is the scythe.   I have resisted buying another gas powered tool and have been using the scythe to cut back growing brush along the edge of the cottage clearing and the driveway.  A few years ago, I joined other cottage owners to cut back the growth along the main road. Not surprisingly, I was the only one to show up with a scythe.  Everyone else had their gas powered trimmers. (It wasn't the first time I was caught doing things differently from the crowd.)

I can tell you it's good workout, but with a sharp blade, it works quite well.

The background of the old scythe is a little unclear.  We think it belonged to my grandfather, which would make sense given how old it appears to be.  I'm guessing he would have used it in the 1940s or 50s, but it could be older still.  Our uncle then would have had it for a period of time and passed it along to our dad when he was moving out west in the 1980s.

I know Dad used it at his cottage, and I think that's the first place I did too.

By today's standards, its design is quite primitive.  The wooden shaft is attached to the steel blade with an unusual hardware design. Instead of a collar with clamp to tighten, it has two pieces that secure a short arm of the 'L' shaped blade against the handle.   Last fall, while clearing some brush, the lower end of the shaft of the wooden handle finally broke off just above where it meets the steel hardware that attaches it to the blade.  The original end had been shaved and worked to just the right width and shape for the hardware components to fit and two holes through the shaft held the nuts and bolts securing the two main pieces of steel in place.

This week I undertook to cut off the base of the broken handle and replicate that shape on the remaining shaft and reattach the hardware to extend the life of the scythe.  Using a wide range of hand tools, including a saw, drills, files and chisels over 5 hours, I was eventually able to reassemble the pieces and reattach the hardware.  You can see the results in the picture above. Hopefully, it will all hold together when I next clear the brush around the lot, quietly. 

Hot Water!

Warning: the following post contains technical information of interest to persons conducting research for a DIY project,  or other people interested in off grid projects. If you're looking for the wildly entertaining blog post normally featured here, you might want to skip this one. I decided to post this entry because I found it hard to find information about small scale off grid projects like this one for a cottage.  Please do your own research by talking to solar power experts and viewing other sites and you tube videos.  I am just sharing my experience to help you identify possible options for your own plans. Feel free to post a comment if you want to ask me a question.