Insecurity at the Off Grid Cabin - Doors, Firewood and an Outhouse

Description

In this episode, I finally install a front door on the cabin and explain whether it's the final product or not. I almost complete the outhouse, I add some more moss to the walls (chinking) and I cut and split a face-cord of red oak firewood. I cook three meals - venison stew, spanish frittata (https://youtu.be/e6YUgJC_PF8) and sourdough grilled cheese.

In My Self Reflections, I talk about insecurity, shyness and the overcoming of it to lead a happy and successful life.

The off grid log cabin is starting to feel a little more like a home with operating doors and windows, a functional outhouse, a pile of firewood to heat the tiny home and the beginnings of a stone and wood plank floor to keep the cabin warm and dry under foot.

Winter is basically here - the weather fluctuates around the freezing temperature mark, with snow one day and rain the next. The clay and moss that I have stored in the cabin for chinking is frozen solid and it takes a hot fire in the wood stove to thaw it out.

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Tags: Cabin,log cabin,off-grid,self-reliance,self reliance,tiny home,small home,shelter,bushcraft,survival,living off the land,homestead,woodcraft,woodworking,gransfors bruk,axe,pathfinder school,dick proenneke,cabin living,alone in the wilderness,joe Robinet,shawn james,outhouse,firewood,hygge,asmr

Video Transcription

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some venison stew I made I made a huge batch like a massive massive crock pots probably enough for five or six good meals for two so it's venison that I slow roast in the oven for about four or five hours parsnip potato carrot mushroom onion and garlic and then a little bit of Roux which is butter and flour cooked in a pan and then you use that to thicken the the gravy thicken the stew that's a lot better than just throwing flour and the and anything you want to thicken actually a stew or soup or spaghetti sauce or something if you mix it with butter fry it and turn it brown it also gives a nice flavor as well as color to there to the stew but I find that much better than throwing flour mixed with water directly into the stew to thicken [Music]

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temporary protection plan on doing a stone wall here but I need to get everything else done inside police the chinking like the waterproofing is my weather proofing so that I can get it warm enough in here to do the stonework so do plan on doing that this winter but in the meantime that's going to protect that wall from drying it too much and possibly igniting it is a safety hazard this pipe should be 18 inches off of combustible away from a combustible material which the wood is of course and because I moved it in so I could get the stove back further it's only about 12 inches so I need to make a non combustible wall surface here which of course the stone is going to be but for now that's very safe [Applause]

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so this is as sourdough loaf that my wife made I mentioned something about food when I sitting around the campfire one night a few weeks ago and it was really a precursor or a segue into a story one to tell the boat food and what we did to make it a priority when we lost the business and we were in that financial disaster of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in debt now one of the things we did was to look at some of the basics if going back to the basics I guess is really what we want to know does that save money or does it cost money or is it just a time drain or what so I started making bread actually pretty well daily all kinds of different breads what we discovered is that yes you can save a little bit of money making your own bread but of course the labor is its high so it's pretty time-consuming so on a labor cost basis it's not worth doing but the health benefits are substantial so for us it was worth doing and my wife continues to do it to this day so love this stuff awesome bread she also makes cheese which stems back to that same period where we were cutting costs and we found a supplier of raw milk in quantity enough that we could preserve it by making cheese yogurt and stuff like that sour cream and butter and and it was healthier as well that was the one of the main benefits so all this rediscovery of food and the roots of food and the the primitive or more traditional ways of preserving and cooking and and growing and raising food we went through the whole process including leasing for zero money local farm 118 acres that I raised some cattle on and well my wife and I raised cattle on and I grew eight acres of crops vegetables and grains all by hand so I was tell that story in more detail in the futures I think it's pretty cool I'd like to show you some pictures and video clips of stuff we were doing back then anyway I'm going to enjoy my lunch right now

and make a grilled cheese on the wood stove then get back to work Pumas way too thick to cut bread and cheese wood

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these days are long so don't you notice a little friend behind here ain't my mr. Doug linker of Doug outside Doug was one of my first guests couple of weeks ago with the Joe Robinette and stopped by here on their way back from a canoe trip and they stayed for the night so this is a little gift from Doug first housewarming gift I guess for the cabin so he's gonna live up here put him on a shelf once I get the place finished inside and get some shelves and cabinets and stuff up that's pretty cool thanks Doug appreciate that all right big greasy grilled cheese sandwich keep cooking like this up here and I have to get a door on so the critters don't get in

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just making me hungrier eat lunch breakfast for dinner making my frittata that I typically eat pretty well every breakfast you know a few exceptions but at least five days a week this is what I eat so what it is is a frittata it's up for tada I guess in Spanish this means right but what it typically means is sort of a loose omelet a scrambled omelette I guess but if you click on this video up here or click on the link below in the description I'll put a link to the video that show exactly how I make it and also it has a link to the website which shows which gives the whole recipe and some of the options I add some the alternative proteins that I add to the retarded it's pretty simple I'm just gonna throw this in cook these vegetables up first and I'll dump a couple eggs in there and that's it scramble it up for breakfast dinner in this case

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should have had three eggs really not for me

it's definitely time to get the floor done on this section and get a table and then a bench here tired of living in a construction site here [Music]

all right so that's the door in of one thing that I did want to mention is that this is not the finished store this is just the tempt or temporary door this part of it is staying and it's extremely heavy so I'm glad it staying but I do have to take it down a couple of times got some stuff to add to this thing inside and out it's actually gonna be my favorite feature of the entire cabin I think so I'm really looking forward to doing that probably work on it over a matter of a few weeks but I don't know I'll start it some time when I'm just working inside take the door down and and do what I plan on doing to it so stay tuned the next couple of weeks I'll have to reveal that cuz I'll be starting on it and it'll be pretty obvious what I'm up to so like I said this is staying for now just got to frame this in and put a door handle in probably tomorrow and like I said that'll come on and off that's why I use those hinges like that so I can just pop the pin out take the door down now do what I plan on doing to it and then put it back up again but for now it's good and solid so thanks for watching this video I'll see you next week

well I'm waiting for that to cook thinking about some of the comments ago in the last video one of them really stuck with me I've been talking a lot about insecurity and overcoming and secured it to you know try to lead a happy successful life and so many stories that people are telling me about their insecurities or their shyness and how it's impacted their lives and one guy in particular this week sent me I think was a private email he just shared a quick story about where he is in his life and it's in a specific situation that he was in recently I'm on my Paris in here and I'm trying to remember his I got so many messages I might confuse him a little bit but essentially what he said is that he was in a store I think working maybe behind the counter and he said a woman came up and they made eye contact and there was some talk between them and I guess a little bit of flirting and he found it very attractive and he said he could tell that she found him attractive and he just fro was he couldn't ask her out he couldn't ask her for a name and when she turned around and left and walked across the street he said he went to the window and saw her shaking her head as she was walking away he was thinking in disappointment that he didn't say anything to her and I you know that's such a painful story and and something I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that that shyness or that insecurity that prevents us from asking somebody in that case maybe it's special someone her future potential spouse or significant other but it didn't happen and I thought how sad for him that he missed that opportunity but also how said it was for that woman who was also looking for that opportunity by the sounds of it so two people ended up hurt in that situation and neither one of them used to blame but also neither one of them reached the other made that move and and took it to the next level and I'm sure they both regret it to this day and I'm sure there's many situations that these people have been in and there lives are over the course of their lives that have resulted in the same thing so you know we also impact others not only ourselves and we can't overcome that shyness we can't get control of our insecurities and you know think if we only knew how insecure everybody else was that maybe that would have been easier so here he is nervous to ask her she's nervous to ask him both walk away losing that opportunity yet both of them wanted it and both of them were assuming that that other person was going to reject them really that when you think about it that's where the insecurity comes from step fear rejection so and most of the time I think those people walk away thinking that that person was too good for them or thinks they were too good for them and that's why they didn't ask

not because they were shyer and secure themselves so it's funny that we know that about ourselves but we don't give enough credit to other people's situations or their personalities or their their limitations so I think that's an important takeaway for me this week is that just to remember that everybody's insecure out the most attractive people I know are the most insecure people I know and I've seen so many of them or so many people limit opportunities or don't have that successful life for that happy life or happy situations that they could be benefiting from if they were to not be so insecure and I mean that's an appearance thing but of course we tend to judge people by the by the book cover and and the appearance first of course that's what we have to have to lead with because you don't typically get into a deep conversation with somebody immediately where they get to know your personality I think that's a biological thing when I see in nature and I tend to relate a lot of things back to nature and wildlife you know I see the Bucks running around right now it's mid-november and Speke rut in this area so pink breeding season and the dominant Bucks the big bucks are parading around showing off their headgear and and having that dominant attitude that the other younger Bucks respect and they stay back from so it's that you know big rock big antlers that that they lead with and the big body that intimidates the the younger bucks or the in that case they become more insecure bucks because they're younger or inferior in some way and that's just a natural process of selection and I think it you know we need to not lose sight of the fact that we're animals as well our primary behaviors are for personal survival and then survival of the species so eating is number one eating and danger avoidance and then secondary is is reproduction so these Bucks are running around and they're a little bit crazy like guys are during breeding season and the dough's are kind of taking it more casual and and they make food the priority because if they don't eat enough then they abort the fawns that they're that they're carrying so they make food that high part priority where the Bucks are just posturing and running around trying to get breeding rights so anyway I think that's a lot is what's going on with people too if we lead with this ego this bravado we think that wins over the the other sex and that has some function but unfortunately it creates a lot of conflict both between guys with with other guys that conflict and which I've seen some of recently which am I going to share someday it's too early too fresh to share it we watched a couple of guys get into it over something foolish and because one person just assumed that other person was always the stronger guy and this you know is didn't have any weaknesses he thought he could take what he was saying to him and not take it personally but of course we're always leading with that ego and that strength and that machoism but really at the end of the day we're all insecure or we're all sensitive we all have feelings toughest guy I know I spent a lot of time with him and now we were really really good friends and what he led with what his personality is édouard personality was was a really really tough guy big guy worked out a lot got into some major trouble over the years and I know the sensitive side and like I said really tough guy but the end of the day I knew that he was only tough because his dad used to beat him up when he was younger and this was his reaction to that and I've seen him cry and I've seen him you know treat his family really well a very loving guy but most guys know other people outside of the home don't see that side of them and that's unfortunate because when we lead with that the reaction that we get from other people is to that ego it's to that image that we portray or convey and we lose that opportunity to make deeper connections with people because they just think we're tough guys or were not interested in that person or because we don't speak to them because we're shy or we've got this attitude that were trying to be the dominant guy in the room yet really were just wanting to make friends like anyone else so I think that's something that's so so important to remember that everyone in fact you've read lots of stories about the artists you know actors actresses musicians getting on stage and they still up stage fright - even after a lengthy career of doing nothing but that for a living and they're still insecure and a lot of them of course drinking and do drugs to try to calm themselves before performance so again that that's a insecurity that we all have yeah like I said we assume that nobody else has it so therefore we run around with our head held low and and acting subservient or shy or whatever and then we're not realizing that even the toughest guy or the best-looking person that you see is actually feeling the same way you are some people have better control over than others but at the end of the day it's all in us so I think for me that's something I've taken away from all the comments I'm getting over the last couple of weeks and it's something I'm keeping in mind when I have the opportunity to go and speak in front of a crowd or or to talk to you guys here and open up a little bit more so I think it's very uplifting that's it's a it's a cleansing and it's something I think everybody could benefit from is putting your real personality out there for the world to see and you'd be surprised how many people like you for who you are instead of who you think they will like you for so that's it that's my thought for this week actually I have another thought that I'd recorded earlier about you know this 3-month rule that I've developed over the years in my head that I wanted to share with you as well so I'll talk about that next but otherwise if you want to stay tuned for that great otherwise I'll see you up here at the cabin next week really appreciate you guys still tuning in and and actually watching this segment so thank you for that see you next week take care guys [Music]