I think I asked for it when I started my last entry with the amount of content my Mountain Man provides for this blog... It's been over a week,...the longest I've gone without blogging since the birth of the Outpost - I'm sure you will all forgive me when I explain why. The day after the Jeep rescue and the hiking adventures in a pitch black wilderness, we spent recovering and re-grouping. We had 8 days before our big group of 16 men on Motocross bikes were coming in to Eliguk from the Alexander Mackenzie Grease Trail. It was their 30th annual trip, and its the reason a certain someone…

Where was I? Oh yes...I believe I had started my last journal entry with something about the amount of content Mountain Man creates for this blog. Lets see if I can even re-create the actual chain of events while doing it justice here at the Outpost! I was on the radio chatting back and forth with the neighbors trying to come up with some form of tow bar to tow the Jeep back to the resort with. The reason we were looking so hard for this tow bar was because I wasn't about to let Mountain Man implement the plan he had previously laid out. Me in one Jeep, him…

Mountain Man makes sure I always have plenty of content for my blog! Are you sure you're ready for today's entry? Let's recap the last few days of his. Thursday morning at 6am, Mountain Man left, fully equipped to cut a trail for days from the Phillips' homestead to the Chadwells' homestead Eastward on the Alexander Mackenzie Trail. The first day was tough, cutting with Rob Phillips, who is in his late 60s, and is also the famous 'Pan Phillips' son. (A quick Google about Pan Phillips and you will unleash many a story of the wild west cattle company of the Chilcotin!) Tagging along was a neighbour's teenage boy,…

I awoke to Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement) which has been my alarm ringtone on my phone for over a decade. Suddenly, a flashback. As memories flood in and I reminisce of days past, when I always arose at 4am during my career days as a Golf Course Manager. Folks were eager to tee off at 5am, most wanting to squeeze 9 holes in before they start work. A fast paced life filled with multitasking, deadlines, organization and squeezing hundreds of people in a tee sheet as a foursome's (whether they liked it or not). Pounding balls off the first tee, staggered at 7 minute intervals. Where I juggled hundreds of…

I LOVE posting before and after pictures, it means we are getting somewhere! In only 2 days, the kitchenette to the Hudson cabin was in place. Now it's ready for details like plumbing, sanding and sealing. It's always a custom job depending on the wood we have and the space we have to work with. I always like to be on stand-by to help, hold the end of what he's sawing or fastening. Plus it's how I get my input with functionality. When I saw that the shelving was going to take up too much of the countertop space, I stepped in and that's when a compromise was hashed out.…

The heatwave broke yesterday, it was short lived and that's ok with me! It makes off grid life a little more challenging to get things done. We end up taking numerous siestas and afternoon boat rides trying to stay cool. When we hit 30C temps - the greenhouse risks overheating. Did you know when your tomatoes reach a temperature above 30C (85F)? Tomatoes stop making the pigments carotene and lycopene at temperatures higher than 85 degrees. So it's crucial to keep the greenhouse from hitting those temperatures. It's a good reason why we spent the money to buy these little gadgets! We are installing them on each end of the…

I've come to realize that my happy place (safe place) is just staying at the resort. I'm content with doing all that needs to be done here and it's enough for me. Mountain Man however, needs more. He craves the adventure (danger) and needs a dose of it every few days. Sometimes I get talked into tagging along, but I'm getting much better at making excuses as to why I don't need to...plus a few very legit reasons...the greenhouse, animals and random planes dropping in. But I think we all know that by now, this is the way it is and I'm sure will always be. Nevertheless, every time I…

The first morning in a while that I didn't hit the ground running straight from my bed. I got to enjoy this dewey sunrise today with the chickens and dogs. Rewind a few days ago... We had a day sitter - Herb, who was going to stay and take care of the greenhouse, dogs and chickens while we did a supply run to the nearest big shopping center. Where we were going to cram 4 days of shopping into one. We have a big crew of 20 coming out at the end of the month and with planes dropping by unexpectedly now that the nice weather has arrived - we…

One month left. One month until the mosquito's subside and die off with cooler nights nearing the end of August. This means no more spraying excessive bug repellent and taking the net down. That bed netting that we both struggle to get inside that we've pulled down from the ceiling a few times. I can't wait until I can poke my feet out from the big comforter and not worry about getting bit by mosquito's! Flash back to the beginning of the mosquito season and how hard it can be to adjust to it... After the swarm of mosquito's hit yesterday we decided to dig out the bed netting last…

Stumbling blocks, obstacles & interruptions. There seems to be no end of them sometimes. We've revised the design of the new lodge a few times but this new interruption will require some thought. Time to go back to the drawing board, literally! As Mountain Man dug back the largest bedrock was revealed, right where a Sea Can was going to sit. We can only use the exact same footprint the old lodge sat on so we are limited on the site to rebuild. The creative juices need to be conjured up so we can come up with a new plan. So far were thinking of putting just 3 of the…