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zakruti.com » Do it Yourself - Handmade » My Self Reliance
Brick Mudroom Floor, Loft Extension, Making BioChar Indoors, Traditional Archery, Cheeseburgers

Brick Mudroom Floor, Loft Extension, Making BioChar Indoors, Traditional Archery, Cheeseburgers

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Rating: 4.5; Vote: 2
My off grid log cabin is quickly transforming into a comfortable home, easily keeping us warm on the coldest nights with minimal wood in the stove. I add more drawers to the kitchen and prepare the sink cabinet for cupboard doors using a variety of rough sawn lumber - oak, walnut, pine, maple, birch and ash. On the woodstove in a cast iron crock pot, I cook a tourtiere meat pie for dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day. With a cabin full of freeze dried and canned vegetables from my garden and freezer full of wild game, fish and grass finished beef, I have months of interesting and nutritious food to choose from. With short days of February, long evenings are a good time to catch up on wood arrow making for my traditional archery equipment. A new hybrid longbow keeps me entertained as I slowly get ready for spring and fall seasons, allowing plenty of time to tune the bow and arrows and work on my shooting form. These are the first shots with this new bow and I'm really struggling with it. The handle is completely different than my other bows and I can't get the pressure into the right part of my hand, which is distracting and putting my entire body out of alignment. I'm working on it daily to form a better bond with the bow. Breakfast is cooked daily in cast iron skillets on top of the wood stove, and typically consist of eggs from a distant neighbour along with home fermented kimchi, homemade cheese, side pork and assorted vegetables. I am intending on making a new ladder to the loft but for now, I decide to extend the loft area to make it easier to get on and off the ladder safely. In preparation for framing in the bathroom on the main floor, I clad the ceiling (the loft floor) with pine to match the rest of the cabin. Using organically raised beef from the freezer in the cellar, I make cheeseburgers and chili for dinners. My wife D and daughter Emily are away for a few weeks so I take care of a three wheels of homemade cheese, using salt brine to wipe away any unwanted moulds before putting them back down in the cellar. A important upcoming project is to install stairs to the basement. To prepare for that, I use bricks leftover from my sister's house renovation a few years ago to install a floor in the breezeway so that I know the finished floor height to connect the stairs to. I will cement it down and grout the joints in the spring when I can work with the door open and in warm enough weather to mix the cement outdoors.
Date: 2023-03-03

Comments and reviews: 15


As always I enjoy your video, they are always interesting, special, you are always up to something new. I was impressed with your cheese, I realize it is not ready yet, I could almost taste it, I love cheese, I like it old, dry, brittle. I would appreciate it if you would let us know how it turns out. I noticed all of the delicious garden vegetables that you canned, you have to be healthy with all your nice healthy home made food, fresh air, stress free life, life free from noise except the sound of the wind Riesling threw the trees, the cry of the wolfs, the sound of the rain. What a wonderful life Shawn. I am happy that the dream that you wished for is coming true, a lot of hard work, the rewards you receive from it makes it all worth while. There are many who wish for it are unable to make it happen. Thank you for taking the time for the videos, I realize that the videos take time as well, you always do such a great job at matching the appropriate music to suit the video. Thank you for the videos, you are appreciated, take care, until next time.
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Thank you for these longer videos. I can watch them for hours. The half hour format is just too short for me. My dad would have enjoyed them too. He was an avid hunter/fisherman/canoeist/archer of the wonderful Adirondack Mountains of New York. In 1952ish, he went on a bow hunting safari in the then French Equatorial area in Africa along with the world famous Fred Bear. He taught me how to shoot, fish, hunt and love the outdoor life. I'm 78 now and still have his Stevens. 22 bolt action rifle, among many other items of his. I know if he hadn't met my mom, he would be up there too, doing just what you are, but she was a city gal, so he had to split his time up accordingly. Lol
I ended up building an oak framed post & beam cottage in the Southern Tier of the Adirondacks on a quiet road of woods and fields. A good place to finish my time on earth. Peace and happiness to you and your family.

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WOW a businessman to a woodsman off grid, what talents you were given, much love and continued success with your journey and blessings to your beautiful wife and children. My husband passed away about 3. 5 yrs ago it seems like yesterday he was taken so fast, he couldn't build me a house but there was so much he could do that i am reminded of those things everyday as i try my best with 2 boys trying to live on this farm we moved to 2 yrs before he passed, we were going to grow our own food and raise our own animals etc, doing this alone is not easy. I'm sure your family hold you in such a high regard as well, God Speed to you as things get crazier and crazier in this world. kisses to beautiful companion, i have 2 Shepards and they are a comfort.
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You are constructing a beautiful home for your family. And this got me thinking. With all the hardships that the natives endured especially in terms of housing why would they not take a page from your book. They have access to all of the materials as you have and even if they couldn t afford a sawmill they most certainly would have a chainsaw and have access to a large amount of forest I m just not sure if they would need permission from some official. Now this could be ignorance on my part but other than the permission why on earth would they not do something like you are doing. For the record I m not dissing on anyone if anything I m jealous that I m not in the position to do exactly as stated.
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I'm sitting here in my home, and watching this. I see Cats Paw's comment and think about the condition of the Canadian government. With the way things are going in Ottawa, (Shawn's cabin is a few hundred mile from there, there is a good chance his life, home, freedom and life style could be under threat of being taken from him. Canada is actually worse than the USA, in many ways.
I hope that this is not true, but Shawn could have a group of heavily armed RCMP's coming down on his home.
You see, the government wants control, Shawn is not under control, he must be stopped, according to some God help us all. ;-)

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yup that has got to be the best start to all of your video's. your Banjo theme. and a perfect choice of pics and snips to cover what you are ding and let people settle in for the show.
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those bricks should make for a great water assisted air cooler in summer.
.
the hamburger stew just needed some mashed taters in your bowl and that would be a child hood meal. fresh spaghetti sauce and last nights left over mashed. either went to hamburger stew or potatoe soup; )

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Yes Callie knows when that camera is pointed at her but wishes it was not always such, especially when eating her Kibble. And my old dog was the same, make his breakfast which he ate alongside me and if any accidental bits of bacon or sausage fell to the floor, well lets say he didn't give me time to reach down and retrieve it, as it was gone in a flash. Nice cookery class this week Shawn, which reminds me I have burgers need using but sadly no eggs, plenty of cheese.
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Nice brick floor, it looks like you installed cement backer board under the brick. That s a good choice, it will keep your brick from cracking. The cement board expands and contracts at the same rate as the brick so it doesn t create a lot of tension in the brick. A wood substrate expands differently than masonry and will crack with the different expansion. I don t know if you used anything to fasten the brick but if you wanted to thin set mortar would work great.
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There's something about the forest in the
winter I Love!
So calm and serene!
The birds chirping
and foraging!
I noticed the home made cheddar, and recognized it immediately!
You were flipping
it to age it, and wiping the mold off it.
You missed a spot
on the rim!
It's March now.
Spring is just around the corner.
Soon the land will
spring to life again
Mike.

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Feels like your way of filming has become way more relaxed. Almost as if you've realized it doesn't have to be action! action! action! constant productivity! this and that! show progress on this! show progress on that! . I really like it! It feels so much more cozy and relaxed. It must be nice for the content creator as well, honestly. I would feel so stressed out otherwise. Cheers Shawn!
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do you no miss the smell of the asphalt in the mid day sun? the feel of the cold metal of the gun handel as at point blank range you pull the trigger knowing somthing about to hit with force and melted to that decking for 25 plus year depending on man warrant. or the sound of the coil bending making that waaawawawwaw sound as you shove it in to the mouth of that tapco. a? /
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I am so impressed with the quality of, the amount of, the dedication of everything that you are doing and have done, the cabin is looking very nice, and inviting. Good for you, love the videos, and I am thankful that you have Cali, there with you to be your close joy of life. Keep up the good work, Blessings. Learn something almost everyday, thanks!
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i almost splooted at the brick tile. i really love the layout of the breezeway and the kitchen/dining room. my gf also squealed at how much sauce shawn put on his burgers because shes a gross weirdo and likes a lot of sauce as well. probably one of my fav vids so far. great video to wake up to and have coffee before going to work
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I'm just looking at your heavy and full drawers there, Shawn.
I think those sliders will fail; if they do, may I suggest something from the Accuride Steel Drawer slide range. Variable closed lengths, and up to 50kg load rating?
I use them for my heavy pots drawers.
Regards to you a Cali lass, from Scotland

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My goodness, when I saw the burgers I thought wow they are huge, I could only eat one but you do work physically non stop, therefore building up quite an appetite. Great video from start to finish, I never want them to end. Cabin is beautiful and Cali is Cali, ever sweet. Take care, be safe. Dorset, UK
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