First Freeze Signaling Winter
Last night the weather forecast said that
first freeze would be that night.
I awoke at 6 am and poked my head out the
door to find it did in fact freeze and the
thermometer read 24 degrees....Winter has
officially arrived and now is the time to get
whatever i have left to do outside done ASAP.
As luck would have it Ive got one project left
but it rained so much this summer its difficult
to burn wet paper garbage...I had quite the pile
over 2 winters and so this time i will just keep a
pile of burnables then take them outside to burn
instead of stacking in a pile for spring.
2025 was an interesting year and i did not have
the dump fee this time but next year i will just
have to deal with it...
This summer I primed my walls with Kilz and
its white primer which made my small cabin
look a whole lot better and got some nice
comments on the job that took 5 days to do.
Id pull things down,paint,wait 6 hours then
put it all back...LOL it was an ordeal but i had
12 years of nicotine stains on my walls.
The last section to paint is my computer
command station and with 2 rambunctious
cats on hand...I dont even want to think how
that will all go down...
The rewire job...One line wrapping the wrong
way around and a couple scorched outlets later.
Now the kitchen has its own breaker and the fridge
and microwave have a breaker.
Im at my limit on an 8 breaker panel box....
Next upgrade...12 breaker box...about $120.
Ive got my extension cords outside and I will
be plugging in the block heater below freezing.
Lots of Noobs in Alaska haven't a clue about
thesae devices...Want your rig to start at minus 25?
Plug in your engine block heater....Thats why we
have them up here in the Last Frontier.
I am about as ready as I can be for whatever this
winter dishes out to me...I hope you are too.
I am predicting 15 ft of snow and a mean temp
of 40 below zero...We are overdue for a killer
winter..
Peace BigT
Chef BigT......The End Of It All
Well all good things must come to an end.
After a year of cooking and baking I took it
out as far as I could on my meager $265
food budget...I enjoyed making goodies thru
it all.
Every time i would sit here with my measly
2 mb upload and guard the computers keyboard
mouse and power button from Helios and Orion.
Kitties walking across keyboards is frustrating
and the power button of doom activated during
a 6 hour upload 9% to go then boom....Computer
shutting down...Yep its just maddening.
I made all the easy recipes out of my Grandmas
and Great Grandmas Cookbooks of Olde.
I inherited them after my grandmas death at 102.
I have a great wealth of books to look at and am
amazed at al those fancy simple recipes.
I have my own favorites but YT is over forever
and I deleted my monetized channel after
revenue dried up.
The propane i was blowing thru and electric
drove me crazy.
Ive reduced costs now and I have my old life
back...no more schedule,no more planning
and prepping then clean the kitchen and the
mess .
I get up when i want...cook what I want..enjoying
the spoils of war.
Being in the spotlight is a bad thing for people
who wish to be private...Salacious comments
from perverts,unwanted emails from crazed
fans...I did get surprise Amazon packages of
which i will treasure...nice kitchen gifts.
I did make 2 pen pals from UK and made friends
along the way...The community patted my
shoulder and shook my hand...introductions were
made and admirers to be had.
I certainly had a good run and had an adventure
like no other....I had my 1 year of fame then the
revenue stream ended in September...it was over
and time to move on.
All in all I would like to say thank you to all who
enjoyed my channel.
Chef BigT
My First Year In The Wilds
It all started in 1994 in the spring,as it was breakup
and I was itching to get a plot of land.
Many years of saving and preparing I focused
on Willow Township,contacted a realtor and went
for a look...4 acres with existing power pole.
12,500...I offered 10,000 cash and she took it.
I paid the realtor right there and 30 days later I
left Brother Francis and Beans Cafe forever.
The drive was long and Wasilla only had one light at
the now McDonalds.
It was away from the big city out in the forest where I
knew I would find solice and my inner entrepenuer.
It was risky but given the alternative.
I knew only what I had written in my notebook.
Willow is home to the finest weed in Alaska and that
was prevalent when i arrived...I even grew it a while
for personal use.
There are also a lot of undesirables here as well and
I crossed paths with many of them to my utter dismay.
Skies the limit I said and it did seem so .
went to the bookstore and looked up hobbies and
found candle making as an interest.
I melted wax in double boilers on my propane stove.
Not as easy as I thought though.
I purchased a varying amount of beeswax,wicking and
colour blocks along with rather expensive silicone molds...
Xmas trees 65.00 each imported from Germany.
They had all the stuff....65 cents a pound for natural
95 cents for the white purified wax...good luck getting
it at less than 10 bucks a pound now. I have 80 pounds
left that ill deal with next year maybe.
It was bitter cold that first winter with temps
plummeting to minus 40 and 50 then minus 60 so i
knew i was in trouble once the heat gives out.
We haven't had winters like that in 20 years.
Lets just hope we get tons of snow.
Going shopping meant Carrs in Wasilla or Costco
in Anchorage....Costco was awesome and I loved
getting pizza and ice cream before my shopping spree.
My freezer was a broke one from the dump and a
working fridge with small freezer also from the dump.
I was young and dumb and hadn't a clue.
Hunting and fishing became my new creed and i
got my first taste of moose and caribou.
Rabbits and grouse were plentiful ...got my first
taste of duck and geese...i wasn't paying attention.
That winter i got 14 feet and the cabin with a 14 ft peak
was completely buried along with everything else
i forgot to cover up.
When the snow finally all melted off i was greeted
by the Magick of Spring.
Magick is all around us...We can see the budding of
trees,the foaling of calves and new life amongst us.
May 12 1994 was my liberation from a life almost
impossible to get out of....I will never go back.
Peace,BigT
