What a day…what a week! One box and one bin to go! Fittingly, the last box contained my leather aprons and my flags. Two personal touches that make this shop MY shop 🙂

We got our first bird stuck in the shop. I’m not sure what kind it was. A little blue bird with a yellow and black beak. Eventually, it found its way out on its own.

I was born in Livonia, in southeast Michigan, near Detroit. I grew up with the 90’s Red Wings dynasty front and center in society. EVERYTHING was hockey back then. Hockeytown was not just a marketing slogan. So there’s no way I’m not flying the Red Wings flag. The “Rebuilding since 1957” Detroit Lions have finally started to play well. The Pistons had a great run in 2004, knocking off the Las Angelas Lakers 4-1 to become champs. And the Detroit Tigers play baseball. I’m not a fan of baseball. Too many games and too slow of a pace. But the Detroit D is iconic!

I picked up some S hooks for hanging the lights. I ended up not using them for the lights and found they are super handy to hang stuff from the wall girts. https://amzn.to/3YPsHEc

The “always wet and stay wet” rainy season for us is the winter. In spring, the rain still comes, but it usually dries out between rain days. Because our clearing is not yet full of vegetation, we are still getting the drastic shift between chocolate cake icing and dry as a desert dust bowl. There’s simply not enough roots in the ground and soil established to absorb and hold the water.

I’ve been working on the shop here and there, in between household and property to-do items. With all of the shop unpacked and put in an initial spot, it’s time for the dust collection! I initially started with the dust collection, but that turned out to be a mistake. I was constantly hitting the ladder on the pipe with other tasks, so I delayed until all of the moving and putting stuff away was done. It feels really good to empty this dust collection pipe and fittings bin.

Random, I know, but any time I’m driving and see anything of use on the side of the road I pick it up. Today’s score was in a relatively new 5-gallon bucket. Buckets are super handy and about $10 with a lid these days.

We bought a forest, and now I’m buying firewood? Well, yeah. We have an abundance of firewood on the property but none of it is cut, dry, and ready to cook with. I haven’t had the time to dedicate to firewood harvesting, nor the place to process it, until now. I bought one cord of seasoned hickory for $200 for my smoker. This will be the last batch of wood I buy, hopefully forever.

I “walk” our dogs around the perimeter of our entire property at least once per day, with the addition of the 4-wheeler. A little while ago, I traded this for that for this for that and eventually ended up with a 1998 Yamaha Big Bear 350 four-wheeler with $0 of total investment. Albeit a lot of time and research is required for the trading process. With the 4-wheeler I’m also taking the time to get deep into different areas of the property and work on my tree and plant identification knowledge. In doing so, I’m constantly finding junk like this. Today’s haul-out was a pile of glass, beer cans, and plastic oil jugs. Never leave trash in the woods and always remove it if you find it!

Prior to this property, I was either barefoot or wearing my barefoot shoes. Only walking on concrete or manicured grass. Now, I’m in and out of the woods, up and down from the tractor, slipping through mud, or walking on rocks. Barefoot shoes are a no-go out here. Take care of your feet and your feet will take care of you! JK Boots reached out a year ago and offered to send me a pair of their boots. They are awesome, as any premium boot should be, and they sent two pairs. I now have a pair of their square-toe western boots for light-duty days, where I want the convenience of quick on and off of the boots. These were the second pair they sent. https://www.jkboots.com/products/the-buck-navy-chocolate?bg_ref=BwlWA71DVt

For muddy days, I have a pair of Georgia waterproof boots. They were $80 and didn’t last a year. That was disappointing.

The brown pair is my JK O.T. Bison Canyon boots. O.T. stands for Over Time, which is fitting, because I can work in these all day and my feet don’t hurt at all. These were the first pair JK sent to me to try out. I told JK that I wouldn’t mention them for 6 months to see if they were really worth it or not. As it turns out, I think they are. So much that I purchased a pair of their flagship boot, the Superduty. The boot on the left is the Superduty Bison Shadow. The O.T. is an 8″ boot with about 1″ of heel, and the Superduty is a 10″ boot with about 2″ of heel. The traction you get from both of these boots is fantastic. I primarily got the Superduty to dedicate to working in the woods, but they are so comfortable that I’ve worn them every day since recording this video. I love these boots.

If you’re interested in checking out the full JK lineup and possibly getting a pair for yourself (highly recommended), consider using my affiliate link and/or coupon code. The coupon code “JayBates” will save you $75 on purchases over $200. In most cases, that’s more than 10% off. https://www.jkboots.com/jaybates

The dust collection isn’t quite operational yet, but I’m at least in a position where I can use the machines a little bit. I’ve always found my curve-cutting bandsaw to be a fantastic tool for crosscutting firewood. My resaw bandsaw has a 3/4″ carbide tooth blade but the 3/16″ 4tpi skip tooth blade on this saw cuts firewood better.

Of course, I forgot to put a log round under the lean-to for splitting. That’s OK. Once the firewood is crosscut, splitting it with a maul/ax combo is light work. I don’t mind splitting on the ground here, an angle grinder will fix the cheap edge quickly. I did put a log rund under the lean-to after the rain stopped.

In 2022 I purchased a Shirley Fabrications patio model reverse flow offset smoker and have nothing but great things to say about it. I’ve gotten so many compliments from the food that comes off of here, and I’m tellin’ ya, it’s the cooker, not the cook. This thing maintains temps easily and uses very little firewood. Every 15-20 minutes, I put two small splits on (Red Bull can size), and the temperature stays around 250 with ease.

For Mother’s Day this year, I smoked three racks of baby back ribs and a tray of baked beans. Delicious is an understatement. Hickory is my favorite wood to smoke with, and this cooker will make anyone look like a chef.

The dust collection is now entirely run with only the HS950 sander needing to be hooked up. I want to experiment with a custom dust hood at this location. Everything else is plumbed in and ready to work. Next up is electrical, and then clean and calibrate the tools! I’m starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel!