The Log Cabin in the Forest Gets a Facelift, Cottage Life

Description

It’s finally spring and I’m back to work outside, starting with a facelift on the front of the log cabin - half round logs to trim the door and window overlooking the porch, shutter on the window, mortar between the logs all the way up to the roof peak and cleaning up the forest around the off grid cabin so I can start working on the outdoor kitchen.

Cottage life is messy at this time of year and Cali, our Golden Retriever dog loves it. The temperature is below zero Celsius at night (30f) but reaches 30c (80f) in the afternoon in the spring sunshine, so Cali goes from breaking ice on the puddles in the morning to laying down in pools of muddy water in the afternoon to cool off. I get so hot working in the sun that I too take a cooling bath in the snow.

The creek is thawing so animals and birds are starting to return- ducks, geese, cranes, woodpeckers, songbirds of all kinds and owls are everywhere.

In my talk at the end, I mention visualizing my dream life and relentlessly pursuing it until I attain it and that my 48 year old self is grateful for the hard work and sacrifices I made when I was in my twenties and thirties.

Bread recipe: https://myselfreliance.com/sourdough-bread-receipe-100-whole-wheat/

Playlist Links

Log Cabin Build Step by Step Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UbUksm4nPmy72sCsMtEbyUOr4XojCsG

Food, Wild Edibles, Recipes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UbUksm4nPnS6ZJ30i4ACtpMlmz7BrzT

Bushcraft: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UbUksm4nPk2dpiJb-wfPrpJkodkS7g7

Outdoor Gear: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UbUksm4nPkhZQ-7stfXYfRD-Kje0Go9

Log Cabins: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UbUksm4nPkGrISWOKvY_0uMOjJI-Chv

Links to gear used at the cabin:

Fjallraven Vidda Pro Pants - https://amzn.to/2rhEiMn

Tilley Endurables Airflo Hat - https://amzn.to/2Ia4xy1

Apeman Trail Camera - https://amzn.to/2HRZSNT

Cabelas Trail Camera - https://www.cabelas.ca/product/86944/cabelas-outfitter-14mp-ir-hd-trail-camera

Mora Knife - http://amzn.to/2BOiv35

Agawa Canyon Boreal 21 Saw - http://amzn.to/2BPV6OF

Axe - http://www.torontoblacksmith.com/

Eagle Claw® Multi-Purpose Jet Sled - https://www.cabelas.ca/product/34435

Wall Lantern (candle lit) - http://amzn.to/2Dpa0MK

Moka Pot - http://amzn.to/2DEomvO Canada http://amzn.to/2ndmtw6 USA

Virtus Knife- http://www.virtusknives.com/

Canon 6D - http://amzn.to/2EdaZjs

DJI Mavic Pro - http://amzn.to/2DHuJib

Solar LED light bulb 15W - http://amzn.to/2BQvSQ2

Copper Fairy lights - http://amzn.to/2BCmF0X

Solar String Lights - http://amzn.to/2DvgU2n

Banneton 12” round - http://amzn.to/2ByxwsF

Lodge Dutch Oven - http://amzn.to/2kHuxDQ

Flamen heat resistant gloves up to 500 degrees - http://amzn.to/2l1mRMm

Rocksheat baking stone - http://amzn.to/2kF6eql

Lamp OiI - http://amzn.to/2qz0nZ1

Bragg’s Sprinkle - http://amzn.to/2EdouzK

Cabelas Ice Hut - https://www.cabelas.ca/product/80349/cabelas-ice-team-five-sided-360-full-thermal-ice-shelter

To see what I’m up to during the rest of the week, please follow me on my other online channels;

Website: http://myselfreliance.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MySelfReliance/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/myselfreliance/

My Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 20042

Barrie, Ontario

L4M 6E9

Canada

Tags: Self Reliance,off grid,log cabin,no talking,primitive technology,homestead,diy,alone,wilderness,inspirational,motivational,survival,primitive,bushcraft,forest,wood,cabin,solo,tiny home,woodworking,maker,woods,My Self Reliance,facelift,cottage,cottage life,the forest,motivation,inspiration,golden retriever,with my dog

Video Transcription

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running out of this cream when I made this one is hell he can't have any skin self that I make I never got pig fat of all things out of lard yeah that I don't know I haven't done it probably two years this stuff is that old but it doesn't smell rancid or anything which surprises me maybe because of all the stuff I put in it but I actually made this one to be a sunscreen as well so it's a lot of magnesium carrot seed oil raspberry seed oil Oh what else basically what I did is researched all of the natural sunscreen ingredients out there and corporated into this cream so I just rendered the lard I mixed it with some beeswax put it into a pot and then simmered all these other ingredients in it like spruce Timpson and like all the other things that I mentioned so running low on it I'm gonna have to make another batch so I'll make sure I film that next time I make it because I really like the stuff everybody that I've given it to you really likes it so I need to make as much as possible and get ready for this summer season where I'll be putting a lot more sunscreen on this year [Applause]

beautiful day today 20 degrees Celsius which is something Fahrenheit it's not too bright yet so I got up about forty thirty this morning and I lit the fire put the coffee on and sat back and read a few of your messages and I was thinking here it is on a Tuesday morning and how fortunate I am to be sitting in this position door wide open and listening to the birds chirping all the you know wildlife that's returning all the birds are returning from south and the squirrels and the other animals are interactive so it's just spring it's a time of awakening and listening all that instead of the city noise that I was listening to just three or four years ago every day and I was thinking how difficult that was for a guy like me to wake up and and do every day to be down in a city where this is where I belong this is where I'm most comfortable and you know how fortunate I am now to be where I am today sitting here enjoying this this nature and I thought how many times over the years was I working like that but not with any clear direction of where it was headed and whether it was going to pay off or not whether that was the life that I was going to continue to live for the rest of my life so the reason I mentioned my age is if you're a younger guy watching this younger girl watching this and you're trying to decide what to do with your life and you're wondering how hard you should work and what path you should take and you know what things you should be doing at your age so that you're financially secure or happy I can tell you if 48 comes quickly and the 40's are a great decade I'm you know the living that having the time of my life at this stage in my life and I'm grateful for the things that I did when I was younger that allowing me to be at this point now so I guess the bottom line is if you have a dream and yeah I hope everybody has a dream and if you don't you should find one you should find passion in your life and try to find something that's going to motivate you to work toward something and by setting that goal and going after it and doing it relentlessly and every day and not losing sight of where your head I think is so important because when you get to this age or get into your early 40s or 50s or what 30s maybe whatever it is that pier in your life that you want to be doing almost nothing but you what you want to do you need to make sacrifices each and every day to make sure you achieve that and I'd you know had my ups and downs I had some successes and I had some major failures like as you know 750,000 dollars in personal debt just a few years ago and now at forty eight Here I am at a cabin in nature on a Tuesday morning working away and joying myself to me that's the best place I can't imagine a better place for me at this point in my life and I'm so glad that I had this goal and I worked towards and I achieved it and sometimes I wonder what I'm doing why I'm posting videos on YouTube and what my message is yes I'm having a great time and people like seeing me simplify but you know it's not just about that it's about you guys about everybody being able to create their dream life and going out there and having the freedom and to me freedom was number one it was always my goal was to get out of the rat race and do what I want to do each and every day when I wake up and I've achieved that and I can't tell you it was worth every bit of effort every bit of sacrifice that I made over years to get to this point and that's the message I always want to convey in my videos it's not necessarily the cabin life it's not necessarily even the simple life it's following a dream and it's creating the best life that you can create for yourself I can tell you it's going to be hard work at times it's going to take sacrifices but the end result is so worth it just don't lose sight though along the way of the journey and how important that is and how you should be enjoying that as well but but try to have that goal my goal was to get to this point in my life but I'm not done yet either I have a lot more to do here I have a lot more to do with the rest of my life and this is merely a stepping stone this is merely a base for me to go out and enjoy the rest of my life continue to live a life of freedom and continue to live a life of success and happiness so that's the way I'm feeling today I'm feeling grateful too for the position that I made and I'm feeling grateful for the sacrifices that I made

the hard work I was willing to put in and I'm glad you guys are following along because it's so nice to be able to share that with you so that's it I had to get back to work about a lot more work to do before the weather changes here so appreciate everybody who's watching take care of a great week [Music]