Folding solar charger keeps devices going

A gizmo that we used all summer while building our cabin could be of use to people in power outages such as those caused by hurricanes. The Coleman Folding Solar Charger kept our cell phones and other small electronic devices working just from the power of the sun.
The 7.5 v unit is about the size of a book when closed and opens to display two flexible photovoltaic panels. You can charge things with either a USB or a 12 v accessory plug.
Besides our flip phones we charged my Fitbit, Olympus camera and Brenda's e-reader.
I have just purchased an Android smartphone (easier for texting while at the cabin) and have also charged that although I found the panels had to placed in full sun outside, not through a window as we have done sometimes for those other devices.
A word to the wise, judging from on-line comments, this charger may not work with I phones or other Apple products.

Fall field mowing is completed

Goldenrod lines driveway

Red clover

Bull thistle

I noticed a big difference in the composition of our fields in Nolalu this fall. In the past our poorly drained fields mostly grew sedges. This year red clover was the main species. I credit multiple mowings in each of the past two years and a dry summer for the change.

Mushroom season is upon us

After the dog days of summer and before the crisp days of autumn comes mushroom season.

Difference between a wolf and a Lab

Question: What is the difference between a wolf and a Labrador retriever?
Answer: There are some parts of a deer that a wolf won't eat.
Labs may be smart animals when it comes to a lot of things but not in choosing their menu.
The timber wolves behind our house eat almost all parts of the deer they kill but leave a few useless items, like shins and hair. That's good enough for Cork. He crunches the bones and gulps them down, never letting me near so I can take away these sharp items.

After two years we're glad to be out of tent

Angler Kim Gross with us beside dining tent, tent and shower. Charles Howard photo

After spending most of this summer and part of last year's in a tent while we worked on our cabin project, Brenda and I are thankful to have hard walls and a roof to live under from this point forward.
Last year it took us most of a week to make a clearing in the dense bush just to pitch a tent. It was then that I realized the materials I had hauled in two years earlier to make a foundation for the dockhouse could be used to make a platform the exact size of the 10x14 tent. So we made the platform and pitched the tent on it, six inches above ground. This gave us a smooth, dry floor in the tent and worked well.
Besides the rain fly for the tent we also covered it with a white tarp. This kept us snug in the fiercest thunderstorms.
We had a separate screened-in dining tent in which I built a sort of counter for our coolers and food boxes. Our propane cook stove sat upon a folding metal stand.
In the tent we slept on folding cots with air mattresses. They worked pretty well as evidenced by the fact that two 67-year-olds with bad backs didn't have any major issues.
We just got lucky with the bears. Although we were immaculate in keeping our garbage and food locked up I know that you can do everything right and still have problems. We had none.
One of the biggest advantages of the cabin, besides solid walls, is that we can have a wood stove. A tent is basically the same temperature as outside.

First year of cabin building completed

The Dockhouse

Photovoltaic panel runs a 13-cubic-foot solar fridge

Crane helps lift heavy objects from boat

We have been out of Internet range most of the summer as we worked on our cabin project at Red Lake, thus the lack of postings.
Stage One is mostly completed now. We have a building we call the Dockhouse to live in while we build the main cabin next summer. Until now we were staying in a tent.
The Dockhouse is a 12x24 building erected right next to our new dock. 
The dock and its landing are important parts of the infrastructure needed for the bigger cabin construction.
The dock, Dockhouse and septic system installed in May are our accomplishments for 2019.