Step 1: Excavation - Complete

It's been about a year since I went to a book signing by Spike Carlson for his book Cabin Lessons: A Nail-by-Nail Tale: Building Our Dream Cottage from 2x4's, Blisters, and Love. The book is an entertaining tale of how Spike and his family built their small cabin on the cliff shores of Lake Superior. The books talks about the trials and tribulations of a self build but also of how his family grew together to build their special cottage. (You can find the book at this link).

Spike's talk was motivational and a bit concerning as Spike has +15 years of construction experience. I know which end of the hammer to use but my methods perhaps align more with Red Green than Fine Homebuilding. One thing I did receive from Spike however was an excellent lead for a north shore excavator named Brad Anderson. Brad transformed our pile of logs and stumps into a beautiful building site. Now before you reply to state that "real men dig their own foundation ..." I would like you to appreciate that Brad extracted boulders the size of Volkswagens in the process of creating a walkout build location. He then contoured the land beautifully. 



Sunday morning we met with our foundation contractor, Randy Boen. We staked out the 24x32 cabin and foundation work is scheduled to begin this week. 

Standing atop this small north short nugget is one of the most patient women on the planet. We've waited 15 years to build our small cabin. Mary Kay is a voracious reader and I suspect in this picture that she is imagining what it will be like to curl up with her favorite book in the cabin window seat. 

We hope that you enjoy our journey through our blog entries. 

We'll get there ... "one nail at a time" ...  

M&M