House with the Outdoor Kitchen

[CastIronCook2]

Soon as I get qualified to post attachments, I'll post you a pic of that little house on the lake, the little house with the outdoor kitchen.

[NCLee]

Looking forward to seeing them.

Lee

[Anon001]

Rather than posting as an "attachment", can you not post them in your message? I'd like to see them.

[CastIronCook2]

Paul, how do I do that? Does it mean posting a link? If so, I could try to put together something on Photobucket. Is there a way to have a jpg actually show up here in the message box? (I'm a newbie here.)

[bee_pipes]

Take a look at the thread posting photos on forum (http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/showthread.php?t=12542)

Regards,
Pat

[Anon001]

Paul, how do I do that? Does it mean posting a link? If so, I could try to put together something on Photobucket. Is there a way to have a jpg actually show up here in the message box? (I'm a newbie here.)

Yes, you can have it in the body of the message.

[CastIronCook2]

OK, I'm going to go with the Photobucket strategy, 'cause then I can build an album that tells a story. Got the digicam primed; by this afternoon I'll have more to show. For now, here's the little house on the lake in the woods up the mountain.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv201/CastIronCook2/Ranch.jpg

[Anon001]

Castironcook,

That pic is too small to see. Have you tried to post the pic in your posting instead of just the link?

If you have the link already and want, you can put the pic in the posting. Use the next to last icon above http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/images/editor/insertimage.gif It is the "insert image" icon. When the box pops up, insert the link in the box. Below is a link to my dogs pic but below that is using the same link with the insert image icon.

http://cedarshillfarm.com/images/animals/Dog_Rufus.jpg

Or insert the actual pic:

http://cedarshillfarm.com/images/animals/Dog_Rufus.jpg

However, if the pic is too small or too large, you will need to resize it before uploading it.

I hope that helps you.

[bee_pipes]

OK, I'm going to go with the Photobucket strategy, 'cause then I can build an album that tells a story. Got the digicam primed; by this afternoon I'll have more to show. For now, here's the little house on the lake in the woods up the mountain.
http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv201/CastIronCook2/Ranch.jpg

Replace the url tags bracketing the link with img tags. It's just that easy.

Regards,
Pat

[CastIronCook2]

Here's a better link. The little house with the outdoor kitchen.
http://www.webuildbooks.com/Moonrise.jpg

[TNDadx4]

It's very beautiful!

Ver, very nice

[Mom5farmboys]

Your home looks very peaceful and quiet. You are very blessed!

[CastIronCook2]

Mom, I am indeed blessed. And when anyone asks, usually routinely, "How are you?" I've come to respond, "Grateful."

[CastIronCook2]

The friends who dropped in at the little house on the lake in the woods up the mountain, the little house with the outdoor kitchen, brought dinner with them, so tonight it's elk burgers and garden tomatoes. Gotta love folks who bring their own supper and help with the chores.

But oh my goodness, we were glad to see them, for that Indian-carved 12-foot redwood totem pole has been lying on the ground waiting for some muscle to help us get it on top of the stump. And now it's standing tall and proud, and that will be the next pic I post, tomorrow morning when the sun is on it.

So it's time to celebrate, set off the cork mortar, maybe even fire the big cannon. WaHOO!

[Anon001]

WoW! Nice place. I like it.

[NCLee]

I'm being nosey, I know, but just gotta ask, if you don't mind. Is this your primary residence or a summer home? If it's none of my business, just say so, as I'll surely understand your reply.

Lee

[CastIronCook2]

I'm being nosey, I know, but just gotta ask, if you don't mind. Is this your primary residence or a summer home? If it's none of my business, just say so, as I'll surely understand your reply.

Lee

Lee, sorry I missed seeing this. Didn't mean to ignore you.

The little house on the lake in the woods up the mountain is our second home, the place the hubbest calls our spiritual home. We're here whenever weather and family obligations permit.

Fortunately, since we have satellite broadband, we're able to continue our business obligations and connect with friends by e-mail, though we're totally offgrid. We wish we could be here in the winter months as well, but we're at 4,000 feet and the snow load precludes our getting in or out.

But right now we're in prime season and receive regular visitors. The guests we appreciate the most are those who realize what physical effort it takes to maintain a place like this. Those considerate souls pitch in with chores and clean up after themselves.

I think of this place as being sharp. Something will bite you, some emergency will clamor, when you least expect it. (And indeed, looking around indoors and out, you see many many images of claw and tooth and horn and saw edge.) Most of the time the major fix-its fall to the hubbest, who tackles them with a good will. But the day will come when we will ruefully pack it in and sell to an outlander.

Meantime, this is our definition of the Good Life, even with its breakdowns and limitations. How blessed we are; how well we know it.

[flatwater]

We are in the process of building our final addition to our homestead and my DW noticed you said outdoor kitchen. We will have a screened in canning/meat processing room/ outdoor porch and would like some ideas to look at.

[flatwater]

OOOps I just found your pic's of your out door kitchen so belay my last post.

[CastIronCook2]

Flatwater, when we built the house we made a very definite point of preplanning the outdoor kitchen. We ran the plumbing, which was stubbed off; ran the electricity, which is still awaiting the installation of lighting fixtures; and now we're in the final stages of completing the project. All that remains is the installation of the double stainless steel sink and its supporting cabinet. Son #2 has generously agreed to make a concrete counter top, which will match the ones he made for the interior kitchen and which will be weatherproof and highly durable.

Our only meat processing facility is a gambrel with a 300-pound scale. The gambrel is on a swing arm that can be swung into the kitchen as needed.

We neither have nor need screens, so we're not much help to you there.

The kitchen contains a wood-burning stove with oven, a Weber charcoal grill, and a smoker (New Braunfels). The kitchen occupies one end of the deck and includes a picnic table. The entire kitchen is about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long.

We used no printed plans but just placed things where they felt appropriate. For instance, the woodstove had to be placed on the end of the deck so the flue could vent without going through the roof. Also, this allows us to easily stock the wood supply by handing up squaw wood from ground level directly to the wood holder. (Our stove goes through a prodigious amount of wood--oak and fir and a lot of construction tailings.) Basically, the outdoor kitchen is a mirror image of one-half of the indoor kitchen, minus my baking station and the refrigerator next to it.

If you have any other questions, we'll gladly answer what we can.

[CastIronCook2]

Flatwater, another amenity for which we preplanned the plumbing to back off of indoor facilities: our outdoor shower, on the other leg of that deck, the leg that is not roofed. That shower is a great joy during the warm summer months. It's open to the elements and all the surrounding greenery. It will soon be joined by a wood-fired hot tub we rigged out of a livestock watering tank.

[DM]

Out door kitchens are great! Here's an older pict. of mine, i've added to it since this pict. was taken.

http://www.fototime.com/1AF17F85FD37A48/orig.jpg

DM

[NCLee]

Agree DM! I love outdoor kitchens. Thanks for sharing a pix of yours. There's just something about preparing and eating outdoors that makes even the most simple meal extra special. At least it is for me.

CIC, thank you for giving us a virtual tour of yours. Looks like you have a place that many of us can only dream about. -- Don't need screens? WOW. We wouldn't have any blood left, this time of year, if we didn't have screens. Even with them, we use citronella candles to help keep them at bay.

Thanks, again.

Lee

[CastIronCook2]

Lee, the hubbest looked long and hard before he found this place. Having once upon a time been one of those inner city slaves, his heart's dream was to have a place where he could hunt and shoot and generally salubriate.

Years ago he did the homesteading mountain man gig--felling, bucking, and even milling the boards for his own house on another rural property. That place had the usual challenges: extreme summer heat, rattlesnakes, and poison oak aplenty.

The Good Lord must have decided he'd put in his time, for He led him to this spot, which has none of the aforementioned pestilences...not even an overabundance of mosquitoes, despite the lake. We think the birds and the fish and a generally well-balanced habitat keep the mosquitoes down. Either that or we're just plain lucky.

In any case, we are blessed and know it. Blessed, also, in having found each other, here in our senior years. For all of this, our daily theme is Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude.

[flatwater]

Ours really has to be screened in because of the yellow jackets and some other blood sucking insects.

[pelicn]

Northern California is such a beautiful place our travels take us thru there quite often. Do you have a picture of your wood burning stove with oven?

[pelicn]

oops, I just found the picture :o

[CastIronCook2]

Pelicn, that wood stove has quite a history. It was built special by a friend. The hubbest traded a fine rifle for it, but later the ironsmith said not to tell anybody, 'cause he took such a loss in terms of hours invested that he would never do it again. It began with a salvaged cast iron top from an antique stove, then the base was built to fit.

It gave many years of yeoman service at the hubbest's homestead property, but fell upon hard times when we moved it to the old cabin at the place we own now. The old cabin's deck was uncovered, you see, and one winter's snow load collapsed that whole part of the deck (carrying, as it did, the weight of the heavy stove), dumping the stove ten feet down onto the ground below.

The original cast iron top was broken in the fall, so when we built the new house on the lake and the hubbest had a large Bobcat come out to do some grading work, he had the driver pick up the poor wounded stove and install it on the covered deck where it now resides. Then Hubbest had a new steel top made for it. It performs beautifully, except it goes through a prodigious amount of wood, but fortunately we have 200 acres of douglas fir and oak to furnish prime squaw wood.

[rae-dean]

castiron-that is the most beautiful picture ever.
i can not see the kitchen so good...but the picture of the cabin and the lakes reflection is like a postcard picture.rae-dean

[duckidaho]

Amazing looking place. We live so close to the mountains but don't get up there as often as we'd like. The more critters you get, the harder it is to get away for a few days.

[CastIronCook2]

Younger son has just built us a pair of concrete countertops for that outdoor kitchen. Into each he embedded a metal cutout of our personal avatars, a bear and a crow. When they get properly installed on their bases, I'll snap another pic and share.

[Cat Lover]

Just a few general notes on the topic of outdoor kitchens ...

It's no secret that the modern BBQ has features that would make it the envy of any third-world cook.

Yet, let's not forget the risks inherent in cooking - especially in primitive structures. There are reasons that the early settlers generally had a separate 'cook house.' Among the reasons are vermin and fire.

Fire is a very real risk, and you don't want to lose everything to a stove fire or chimney fire.

I've seen plenty of the modern 'outdoor cooking centers,' both in life and in the ads of the home centers, and the vast majority of them fall short of meeting basic vode kitchen requirements. The major failings relate to the electrical and the ventilation.

Ventilation? Outside? Yes. More specifically, that very nice fabric awning over them, perfectly positioned to both catch grease and heat. If you.ve ever seen a BBQ places under a tree, you probably noticed withered leaves for a good 20ft. above the grill. That's enough heat to cause trouble.