Since my last post, I've completely finished painting the cabin, cut down a few more trees to chop up for firewood, cleaned up around the cabin to prepare for winter, and reorganized the shed. All that I had left for painting the cabin was the very bottom board on each side, which I saved for last to avoid getting dirt in the brush and paint can. The cabin looks brand new from the outside, and hopefully won't have to be repainted for a long time. Also, just as an FYI, I used the same four inch brush to apply the green paint to the entire cabin. I kept the brush usable for nearly four months without cleaning it by placing it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (I also did this to keep the primer and trim brushes usable, but not for as long).
There was a bunch of trash/construction debris in the driveway that I had to get rid of before it got buried in snow and couldn't be found before next spring. I also cleaned out the shed, which was so full of ladders, saws, mowers, paint, and other random junk, that you couldn't even step into it. That was an annoying process that required taking everything out of the shed, then figuring how to put it all back in so that it didn't take up as much space. The outside of the shed is in pretty bad shape, now (peeling, fading paint), so I'm planning on repainting it in the spring.
I cut down two more dead trees at the beginning of the week, then drug about 30 four-foot long logs down the side of the mountain to the cabin (I had several logs already cut up that I hadn't yet moved down the mountain). I still have to cut the logs into one foot sections and split and stack them, but I should have enough wood now to last through most of the winter.
I had to turn on the propane heater in the living room yesterday to keep the cabin warm enough to keep the pipes in the bathroom from freezing overnight or when I'm gone during the day (and can't keep a fire going). With the recent cold front (overnight low last night was 7° F) came our first real snow storm, too. Sunday through Wednesday we had near blizzard conditions in parts of the mountains. Silver Plume only got a few inches of snow, along with heavy winds (40-60 mph gusts), but a few miles west, at the continental divide and Loveland Ski Area, as much as 30 inches of snow accumulated. Portions of I-70 (the main, four lane highway that runs east-west through Colorado) had to be closed for periods of time to clear snow.
Loveland was the first ski area to open in Colorado, and did so last Sunday, after making man-made snow for a few weeks. I haven't gone snowboarding, yet, but will hopefully get to soon, as my instructor training starts the first weekend of November.
I'll upload some pictures as soon as I get a chance to at the library.
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