Live Edge Wood Staircase in a Rustic Log Cabin | Working Alone

Description

#woodworking #logcabin #canada

I build a rustic, live edge wood staircase to the loft in the off grid log cabin and explain why I prefer working and spending time in the outdoors alone.

This is part of an ongoing series, The Log Cabin, showcasing a complete Canadian wilderness homestead built by one man alone with logs, rough sawn planks and stones.

Thanks for watching! New videos every FRIDAY. Please subscribe.

My Other Channel: Shawn James https://bit.ly/2xzZHpB

MERCHANDISE: https://teespring.com/stores/my-self-reliance

Watch the ENTIRE cabin and Forest Kitchen SERIES here:

HOW TO BUILD A LOG CABIN: https://bit.ly/2nbof06

SEASON 2 - The Interior: https://bit.ly/2CIjPqr

SEASON 3 - The Sauna/Bathhouse: https://bit.ly/2AskJWP

THE FOREST KITCHEN, Building It: https://bit.ly/2M3syZE

SEASON 2 - Outdoor Cooking: https://bit.ly/2CFgQPQ

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

Links to gear used at the cabin:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tags: Self Reliance,off grid,log cabin,homestead,diy,alone,wilderness,cooking,bushcraft,cabin,solo,tiny home,woodworking,My Self Reliance,Shawn James,live edge,staircase,diy staircase,rustic,rustic log cabin,live edge wood,diy wood staircase,rustic staircase,alone in a log cabin,alone in the wilderness,unique wood staircase,one of a kind,woodworking in a log cabin,log,off grid cabin,log cabin in the forest

Video Transcription

(gentle guitar music) - There you are, chasing squirrels? What's up?

You get 'em? I'm cleaning off the roof because we've had a couple of days of warm weather, including rain, like scattered showers today. So all that snow on the roof is starting to melt and compress and get heavier as it absorbs water. And because the section of the cabin within the boundaries of the walls gets a lot of heat coming through the roof 'cause it's not insulated, gets to melting up there and then as it gets closer to the eve where it's unheated it turns to ice and then creates a bit of a dam. With a shingle roof or something it causes a major issue because then the dam, ice dam, dams the water that's coming down the roof as it melts from the heat of the house and then that backs up and it gets underneath the shingles. I don't have an issue with this roof because it's solid plank roof all the way down vertically then under that I have a waterproof membrane. So any water that does get underneath these roof boards comes out underneath them. 'Cause I've got some gaps cut into the strapping so the water can escape but that being said, got a whole bunch of more snow coming in, maybe another six inches, 15 centimeters, tonight and tomorrow. So before that accumulates into heavier snow I'll see if I can at least some of this water and ice off the roof today before it refreezes again. Hmm.

Nope.

(ax thudding)

(meat sizzling)

Go on.

Crazy.

Brave but crazy. Got me a little nervous but she just goes running when she hears branches breaking but luckily it was just a tree falling over from the snow. It's just a good little rolling pin. Unless you want it. (Cali barking)

(scratching)

Hi Cali, you want in pup? (chuckles) You gonna try to climb these stairs? (food sizzling)

Hungry today.

Can you give me five? Good girl.

Other hand?

Good girl.

Now take that out. Oh, heavy.

You want to take it outside? Here, no over here. Want to go out or you wanna have it here? You wanna go outside with it? I thought you might. Every morning I get up, especially on a, what is this Thursday morning today. So these frequent upload, video uploads are interesting because I try to read as many of your comments if not all of them as possible which means what I typically do, so I'll put up a video one day, answer questions maybe for the first hour and then when I take a break with lunch or dinner or like this just before breakfast while I'm having my coffee I like to read the questions. One of the questions this morning was why don't you get help? Why don't you have help? I think the intent of it was why don't you choose to have help, not why don't you get help, or can't find help. I think what is happening for me is that I tried to do this when I was younger and it only lasted three months, I ended up finishing the cabin and had it for 10 years and used it as sort of a hunt camp and a weekend retreat but my goal, my dream at that point was to live in the woods like Henry David Thoreau (was my inspiration, I guess, at the time). So I think what drew me to this lifestyle back then is the same as it is now and that's that I don't like the.. I think the limitations of the rat race or typical society, I think the lack of freedom is probably my number one resentment and what wanted me, what drew me to this lifestyle back then and like I said, and also now.. I don't like having to get up at a certain time, go to a job that I don't really feel passionate about, I don't feel like there's a connection, I don't feel like it's something that's worthwhile of my time. And I think those kind of jobs are hard to find. They exist and I encourage everybody to try to find that because if you can it's a much more fulfilling life than one where you just go through the paces and then hope that you get to spend some time on the weekends doing what you really love to do. But I think the alone thing, the doing the building alone, and doing a lot of stuff in the outdoors alone. First of all I've always felt a deeper connection to nature when I'm out in the woods alone, or out on the lakes, whatever I'm doing. So I think that's what drew me to something, things like bow hunting and fishing when I was younger is that it allowed me to, or forced me to become much closer to nature, pay more attention to everything because you had to get close to everything, close to animals in order to have a chance at harvesting one for a meal. So when I was young one of the things I really liked to do with my time before I became a hunter was to follow animals around and birds and stuff and try to really get to know as much as I could about nature and about wildlife. I started off by doing birdwatching, keeping a journal about birds, learning their sounds, finding their nests to see what kind of habitat they nested in and looking at their eggs. Getting close to nature just forced me to really appreciate first of all that being alone allowed me to get closer to these animals and not having somebody else distracting me from my purpose there but also just pulling me off in a different direction, so let's say that I heard a certain bird over here and the person I was with, like my sister I used to go out into the woods with quite often, or sisters, and a couple friends. They might wanna go over here and do this thing and you end up compromising and maybe going there, I wanted to go here. So being alone allowed me to focus on what I wanted to do and to I think learn a lot more about myself and a lot more about nature by allowing me to pursue what I was really interested in and what was worth my attention. So as I grew older and reading Henry David Thoreau and Emerson talking about self reliance, I was inspired to go out and try to do that full time. So it's where I bought the property up in this area, Central Ontario, very cheaply. I worked hard for it. And built that first cabin but actually before that log cabin I had a little island property, the first one that I bought actually when I was 17 was a very cheap property, it was two acres on a large island in the middle of a midsize lake in Central Ontario. And I actually built a regular 2 x 4 cabin on that, covered it in sheet metal because my dad was able to get a bunch of pieces of sheet metal, so a hideous looking thing but very functional and spent two years boating to that island and building a fire pit and all that kind of stuff and using that as a base camp to go out and hunt and fish and stuff. So that again taught me to be independent and a lot of times the independence was sort of forced because people didn't have the focus or the determination to do that type of thing with all of their free time. So even though I was heavy into sports as a teenager, to hockey and soccer in particular and working out, going to the gym, a little bit of kickboxing and judo and stuff like that. My real passion was the outdoors so every weekend I would borrow my dad's truck, amazing that my parents let me have, encouraged me and supported me getting that property and then providing transportation, so I was able to go up pretty well every weekend and any other time that I have off and work at that cabin and spend time in the outdoors. So all of these things naturally I became independent because of it, became more self reliant and I got to the point where I preferred it. Even though I am a friendly person, I do get along with people and I do have a fair number of friends and family that I like to spend time with there's still to me nothing like spending time in the outdoors alone. So I end up, and also at this stage in my life and throughout my life it's rare to find somebody that has the time and again the dedication or the focus on doing this particular thing when they have either other responsibilities or other things that they want to pursue, other passions. So I think that that fact, the fact that not everybody wants to do what I want to do all the time has led me to become independent but at this stage it's just become my preference as well. So even though I have friends and family and I spend a lot of time with them when I'm not filming, that's the reason that I'm in Central Ontario instead of further way up north back further into the woods 'cause actually that would probably be my preference although I love the landscape around here as well and the climate but I'd probably be even much more remote if I didn't have a family of course. I do spend a lot of time with them whenever I'm not filming. That's usually what I'm doing, I'm spending time with family. Now as far as the building's concerned the same thing applies, not many people have the time to spend doing just this kind of thing for themselves nevermind coming to help me although I've had lots of offers and I really appreciate that but this place has become sort of a, I don't know it's become my personal challenge, it's become my legacy I guess, something that I want to say that I've done. Not to brag and not to, not to impress anybody else but to I guess for me. I mean just for my satisfaction, for me to get closer to the end of my life and look back and see that I did something valuable and that I did something that I loved and I had a fulfilling and meaningful life, besides family being number one and that's the most meaningful thing I've done in my life is to raise two daughters and have a fantastic wife. This would be the next thing that I'd be most proud of is that I have been able to build this place on my own without help and I've rised to that challenge. And I think beyond that personal challenge it's grown now to a point where being able to share that with such a broad audience and a large audience has made me realize how many people would inspire to do this kind of thing. To do something, to do something with their lives that's meaningful and fulfilling and oftentimes that means doing something alone. I think for me I'm proud to be able to inspire people to do something like this and to show that it can be done alone because most people will find the same thing, it's hard to find like-minded individuals whether it's family or friends or acquaintances that have the time and effort and focus and passion to do exactly what you want to do. This is my way of showing also too then to the world that you can put your mind to, you can do anything you put your mind to whether you're alone or not. And I always think if one man can do, build a cabin and build a home and build other things, and I'm by no means the only man that has done this, it's been done many times throughout history and many people are doing it still to this day. And I think anybody who is showing that that's possible can show that anything is possible and that there's things that then collectively, that you do together and you can create great things and do great things. I think we have a responsibility if we are strong enough of mind and body to be productive, to not be productive I think is a real disservice to ourselves, our families, our friends and our communities. So I would say that beyond what I'm doing here for myself and my family, that would be the message that I want to leave with this channel, on this channel with my videos is for people just to be their best selves. Do what you can. Be strong.

Be happy.

And be caring. And you can be those things if you're confident and capable. And you've tested you're limits and know what you are capable of and that you're doing things to your full potential. Well, so (laughs) that's what I'm feeling this morning after reading comments. Tired actually, it was a little bit warm in the loft, it was only minus four celsius last night so 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Cali.

So 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Fire, I only had one small log on there from like 8 o'clock, 8:30, went to bed early last night. Still over 60 degrees Fahrenheit in here this morning so very comfortable. But a little bit too warm in the loft for what I had on. I had full flannel sleeping bag or no a comforter thing that we use. Little warm.

So I'm gonna make some breakfast now I think and get to work. Little bit of cosmetic stuff in the kitchen here and then get back out I think, start working on the sauna while we have this mild weather. See if I can knock off several more courses of the walls on that. Once I dig the logs out of the snow. Anyway, thanks for watching guys, really appreciate it and I'll see ya at the cabin next time. Take care.

(wolf howling)