Antenna for the Shortwave radio and SBX Radio

Removing 2 - 3 lbs of soft steel plates

1/2 lb copper wire

circuit board

The mother of invention was and still is need.  We didn't invent this idea but had the need alright.  Since our XM Radio gave out over the summer we'd been without news or hearing other voices.  Even at night the shortwave radio was real poor.  We had a used up Battery charger and Bryan took it apart knowing there might be a  spool of copper wire inside. Prefect for a ground wire.  He also drove in an aluminum pole into the ground and attached the wire to it and than attached the copper wire to the radio and SXB. (The gain is left wide open and the treble is turned right off).  Even in the middle of the day we could hear Juneau, Alaska. There was a Buy & Sell hour on. We just sat there....listening to lost cat adds, motors for sale, etc... Took abit of strength to turn it off.  We had stuff to do and daylight was burning up.  Tonight we will try to call our trapper friend Bob by SBX Radio at 6pm.  He is suppose to monitor his radio between 6pm and 7 each Friday and Saturday. 

5 x' 1 1/4" Aluminum tent pole driven in all the way, previously drilled & screwed

It works!!!!!!!

defunct Battery Charger being taken apart.

Hello to steve... Teslin is a beautiful place.  You go past Teslin about an hour to Jacks Corner than drive down another hour of dirt road to Atlin.   Glad to hear you are still working hard.    Ken.... we are glad we have bears and not alligators.....don't know a thing about them. Weather has been fine here.  -1 or 2 at night and 5 Cel. in the day.  No staying snow yet.   Nick.  beautiful little cabin, maybe you'd let the other followers see it.  Let me know.  And yes we do trap muskrat pushups in the winter.  We are marking them now.  Scotty Brian  Muskrats are like little beavers but with a rat tail.  They live along the shores of ponds and lakes.  About 8" body.  Huge populations if left unchecked.

Muskrat Trapping.....

West end of lake

from the narrows looking west

three muskrats

Bee comes Muskrat trapping in her little carrying cage

It's up to 44 muskrats now.  We are skinning like crazy to keep up.  We took our new kitten "Bee" with us to get her used to traveling.  When we stay up at the linecabin she will probably come with us by skidoo.  Each time Bryan got back into the boat she would purr away.  By the end of the trip she was sleeping.   Our XM radio broke down and we use the Broad Band Radio for outside news.  It works at night.  By computer I was able to order a new XM radio but it won't be flown in here until after freeze up and the airplane strip is safe (probably just before Xmas).   Evan....we are going to follow your advice,  we don't need chicks and these Road Island Reds lay for many years we believe?  But we also like the wake up call in the morning and late at evening.  Also we think the girls might miss him.  They sure were talkative when he came back into the chicken house after spending the night outside.  By the way, the day he came back in..... he did no chock a dodil..... he wasn't feeling so chocky.

Muskrat Trapping

We first marked all the active runs (about 100) and then the next day but out 25 sets.  Checking them was alot of fun.  The first days catch was 17....then yesterday another 17.  We'd noticed no otter here this spring and summer and that must have allowed the population of muskrats to really climb here.  We only harvest 4 for each colony then pull the set.  They have two batches of young (4 - 8) each summer.  Once they become overpopulated they bite each other and disease can get in to the colony.  We are making up more skinning boards this morning and then will go out in the boat to check the sets again this afternoon.  Because of the full moon and no cloud cover for the last 5 days we didn't moose hunt.  We'll probably go out early tomorrow morning and see what shows up.  We built two tree stands up in the moose meadows last week.  They are about 16' off the ground and allow scent to leave easier and make a person sit in one spot for 3 hours.  Cleaning the chicken house yesterday and that rooster flew up at my face with his spurs.  He spent the night outside after he'd run out of the shop door. Luckily my arm was up.  We are still deciding whether we need him or like him at all. Maybe we will clip his wings.  He is an aggressive one.

Chickens in winter

We are not experts....but what we believe that will make chickens happy in a greenhouse with old blankets and straw bales with heat lamp and light is to make sure they have a good nestly box.  either make it with bales of straw or an old cardboard box or make it with wood and surround it with bales of hay.  The opening should be 8 to 9" hole and all 3 chickens will use the one box.  Have it off the ground 3 or 4 feet with poles so they can get up.  They like a hidden private spot to lay eggs and they will probably sleep the night in there also.  We collect wild hay and store in cardboard-boxes so that we have box straw for them all winter.  The heat lamp will work in -30 -40 no problem.  You should have eggs all winter!!!!!   Sure like to know where you are located approximately.   We also still have all the old cabbage leaves lettuce leaves etc out in the garden .... once the finally freeze up has happened we pick all the frozen leaves and put them in our greenhouse.  We feed our chickens these greens plus all the vegitable scrap (cut up fine) all winter long beside their laying mesh plus grain plus oster shell or washed ground up old egg shells.  they also LOVE leftover rice or pasta.  Their beaks plugged ...

Making quad trail and Moose hunting

It's the 35 day of extending the quad trail up to our linecabin up in Walker's Valley.  We're up there 3 1/2 km to great moose swamps.  We've also been up at 4:30 am to start out early to do some moose hunting.  Canned 17 of the Road Island Red chickens and we kept a rooster who has just about got his cock a doodle down pat.  They gave us their first eggs 3 days ago.  These chicks were hatched in Alberta on June 10.  I still haven't had the time to install my camera onto this new computer.  I have about 10 minutes every 3 days to get on this computer right now.  Hopefully in the next week it will slow down here.  The days are shortening so quickly and there is so much to do.  Had the first staying snow a few days ago.  Up in the moose swamps there is 6" of snow.  Still seeing bear tracks in the snow.  Saw 80 Artic Loons on Sept 26 then the next day a huge flock of over 500 Pacific Loons (adults)   quite the sight.  then on Oct 12 there was a group of about 75 Pacific loons mostly juvenille with 15 adult babysitters ....RE photos of Griz....wished we'd had a camera near when the 4 were travelling the lakeshore but couldn't get our eyes out of the spotting scope.  Appreciate knowing all of you are out there.  wish i had the time to respond to each comment but just too little time.  Today we took the day off and our going out to look for muskrat trails along the shore line.

Grizzly Sow and Her Gang of Three by Bryan

Sept 20.  The roar was the sound between a cow and a lion (a baww and a roar put together).  It made my hat stand 4" up on my head.  I'd just bent down to light the outside campfire for morning coffee when there was this noise right behind me.  I whirled around so fast my hat was on backwards (mind you it wasn't touching my head anymore).   Right over the fence - not 10' away from me where 4 Grizzly Bears.  They'd been salmon fishing on the shore right in front of our cabin site.  One cub stood up and looked at me.  I slowly retreated to the cabin.  This group was a good sized Sow and her three 2 1/2 year old cubs.  Their backs where as high as our fence.  I think the one that had roared had touched the electric fence wire.
I went into the cabin and told Vikki to come out quickly.... She'd heard the roaring and was getting her outside cloths on.  We watched them for an hour searching the shore along the lake.  We heard two more large roars. We believe they are more vocal when Sows and Cubs are involved.  Note......Except for the loud unexpected noise this was not a dangerous encounter... these bears were fishing and I was not a threat to them.

Grizzly Sow and Cub Encounter

Sept 10...We had dropped Bryan off at the trail head on the lake agreeing to pick him up at dusk.  Scott, (a friend who was here for 5 days) and I went trout fishing.  Towards dusk we were trolling towards the raft and trail head when we say a big sow grizzly and her cub fishing for Salmon on the shore right beside the raft/trail head.  She disappeared along the shore and we heard Bryan's old dog Hannah barking.  We rushed to shore knowing Bryan was unarmed.  Scott bailed out of the boat with his 375 H&H just as Bryan drove out of the bush on his quad..... grinning and saying......."You'll never believe what just happened to me!!!!!!!"  The sow had made 2 false charges....one up the trail to within 15' (this is when Bryan took his hand off Hannah's nose and let her bark)....then the sow returned to the cub.  Bryan sat on the idealling quad to give her time to leave.....and had just thought "well that wasn't that bad!!!!!.... when the sow suddenly made another false charge from 150' thru the thick bush beside him huffing and puffing and throwing her front legs way up in the air...stopping 15' away and then glaring and slowly leaving.  Out on the lake we could hear all the commotion but it took us 3 to 4 minutes to get to shore with our 4 HP motor.  We listened to his story and then after reaching the cabin by boat opened a couple of bottles of beer.        Notes... Bryan had had Bear Spray in the front box on his quad but didn't have time to think of it.  (Also he usually has a rifle with him but didn't this day).  It was a high year for Salmon on the lake and more than normal amounts of Bears where here.