The window A/C units have always supposed to to have been temporary, but now we've got to where we like them. Being up high in both lofts, most days just having them on keeps the whole cabin nice and cool. I have a mini-split system waiting to be installed, I just need my son in law to come up and help me. He's an HVAC guy, but he's so busy raising our grandkids he doesn't have a lot of time off.

The thing about window A/C units is that if your A/C goes out, it ain't a several thousand dollar fix. It's just a trip to Walmart or Lowes and a hundred dollars or so.

There ain't much else in Carrolton. I take the back roads to various jobs sometimes just to see parts of the Southeast I don't get to normally see. There is a lot of nice farmland between Carrolton and Starkville.

I'll tell you guys what... This Weiss Internet rocks. It's easily as fast as the Spectrum cable based internet we have at home in Trussville. I don't have a smart TV up here, but I think I making a trip to Rome or Ft. Payne today and picking up a Roku stick and then signing up for YouTube TV.

It cost $150 for installation and $70 a month. Seeing as I was actually the guy who got up on the ladder, built the mount and then installed the dish, they should have given me a discount, but I'm not one to complain about trivial stuff like boxed croutons on a Caesar Salad...

I went out yesterday to pick up a security camera system and when I returned I already had some trespassers in the front yard. By my count about 10 of 'em.



I've seem more wildlife this year up here than I can remember ever seeing before.

Those are nice trespassers to have.

Irish you are like the Dos Equios guy of Aldeer. WTF haven't you done?

Her vanity turned out pretty nice after a few coats.

She went from this mess...



To this...



... And she is one happy camper.

That wood has a really nice grain to it that my BLO/Mineral Spirits/Poly mixture really brings out...



I'll probably be doing all my wood finished like this from now on. It's much nicer and richer than the plastic like finish that straight poly gives you. Plus it really gets down into the wood.

I guess your mixture would work well with red cedar, what mix rate of BLO, Mineral Spirits and oil based poly (I guess Helmsman Spar Urethane would work) do you use. I just don't like the Spar by itself on red cedar.

3 equal parts. I just happened to have Minwax satin finish oil based poly so that's what I used.

Some people use the 3-2-1 ratio (3 parts mineral spirits - 2 parts Poly - 1 part BLO) and I may try that next time. Like this guy...



I sanded each one of my coats in and then rubbed them off like he did except I used steel wool as the applicator.

Honestly you could just leave out the poly all together and go 50/50 BLO and Mineral Spirits and that gives a nice finish too. I done several gun stocks that way and they turned out beautiful. Not sure how it would hold up to glasses and cups being set on it though.

Grew up in Carrollton. Still have family there, not much else is there though.

As of tonight I am up to 11 straight nights at the cabin thanks to working between Rome and Cartersville last week. It has sure been nice. Our youngest son Irish Jr. even came up yesterday and helped be get, split and stack about another probably 3/4 of a cord of firewood.

Speaking of firewood, I've had one the last night and now. This little wood stove is going to be a keeper. It is super easy to start and once it get to going, just pull the damper rod all the way out and it just goes and goes. It's super efficient in that it burns the wood gas and makes this beautiful flame, it is self cleaning on the glass window and it can have a roaring fire in there and you can go outside and look at the top of the chimney and there's not even any visible smoke coming out.



Saw another visitor this morning out the window. A little guy, but he must have ate his fill of our weeds in the front yard, before moving on across the road...



We have finished both lofts now and that was the last major thing to do on the inside. I built a desk for my home office space in our bedroom loft with more of the live edge spalled sycamore. So now I have a place to "work form home" at the cabin which is nice. I like the way it turned out. I still need to do something for my cable and cord management...

I believe this has been the best thread ever on Aldeer. I’ve enjoyed following the progress.

We're starting to really enjoy just about every weekend up at the cabin. Quite often Mrs. Irish and I both have been fortunate enough to be able to work from home on Fridays. Having the high speed internet up there from Weiss Internet allows us to work from the cabin, so we usually head up on Thursday afternoons and don't commute back to the office from the cabin until Monday morning. It takes me about 1.5 hours to drive from the cabin to my office.

We had our granddaughter up for the long Thanksgiving weekend and that was a blessing. She lives in Pensacola and we don't get to see her that often.

Her and her boyfriend. He's a varsity middle linebacker and a great kid.



We took them to Orbix Hot Glass so they could blow some ornaments. If you ever get up this way it's a great outing for your family.



I've been looking for a cabin bear and while browsing around Mentone we visited Jim Marbutt and bought one of his original carvings. I think I'm going to get him to teach me a few things to get me started wood carving. He's a good guy.



I'm about another good work weekend away from having my outdoor fire pit area done. Gathering enough rocks to build a stacked retaining wall and building that wall is a lot of labor. Sore back type labor, but we are going to enjoy sitting by the fire with a whisky and enjoying the view.



I still have about 1 or 2 more courses of rock to go up and then I'll finish it all off with crusher run. I'm going to run a buried pipe from the retaining wall to the fire pit for a cold air intake to help with combustion and make a relatively smoke free fire pit. The design is in my head. I'll show you when it's all done.

Mrs. Irish got the place all decked out for Christmas and it sure is cozy feeling now.







I got a wind break built to keep all my firewood dry and keep most of the weather off of my tractor.

Got some pretty serious work done this weekend after I got the transmission in my tractor fixed...

I had to fabricate (Irish Engineer) a Dog Point bolt for the shear key in my shifter, but it worked like a charm. The factory one in on the right.



One I got the tractor back to working we were able to finish up the new fire pit area. Mrs. Irish getting her work out while I'm hauling dirt on the Yanmar.



We managed to persevere Sunday and were through by about 1300 including fixing the tractor. The plastic chairs and crappy fire pit are temporary. Hopefully I'll be building the cold air intake, smokeless fire pit this weekend and maybe taking a trip soon to Amish country and picking up some decent wood Adirondack chairs to go around it. This is going to be a nice place to have a cigar and a whiskey and just enjoy the fire... God knows I've stacked enough rocks and hauled enough dirt and gravel to finally get to enjoy it.



Got to hang out with my buddy Skip a little. He's the one who taught me how to forge my own knife a while ago. He and his wife have really been mentors to us since we arrived on the mountain. I'm going to get him to teach me flint knapping soon. He's pretty good at it. He was making some arrows in his shop.

Hey Irish. Did your old duck decoy ever make it to the cabin? You guy have come a long way with your place.

Yes it did it sits on a window sill in the main room. Thanks for that. We really appreciate it.

Sweet. Great deal on your tractor. Nice tool to have around.

Thanks. I love that tractor. I never thought I would care so much about a piece of farm machinery. I have loved sports cars and trucks and many motorcycles, but never thought I would get so attached to a tractor. She's a little workhorse. I hope to keep her till I die and pass her along to one of my kids.

Irish, here’s a link for a new business that’s opened in Cave Springs, Ga.
They manufacture outdoor chairs and such. I haven’t been in to check them out but they have some good looking stuff I see passing by.
https://evergreenpatio.com/

Thanks for that. Those chairs are very nice, but a little pricey. If I don't buy them from the Amish, I am thinking strongly about just building them myself. I like a good project...