Is it done yet?

No, sorry, the cabin is not finished, but we did make good progress again this summer. Mother Nature provided 14" of fresh snow in our area (another 11" this weekend, according to our friend Bob) to mark the beginning of winter. Fortunately, we have enough material staged in the cabin to keep us entertained over the winter months.

This past summer the cabin exterior changed considerably as we built the deck and screen porch,  had the metal roof installed (we hired that done!), installed soffit and fascia, and finished the siding on three sides of the cabin. Wow, what a bit of wood will do to appearance!

Inside we're working on the plumbing (mostly done) and electrical rough-ins (still a ways to go). We also had spray foam insulation installed on the ceiling, gable end walls, and the rim joist (another thing we hired done!). This past weekend we hooked up the propane to the cabin and have the copper propane lines connected for the water heater and furnace; the connections are ready for the stackable dryer and range. We installed the furnace chimney and the floor furnace is operational, which will allow us to have some heat this winter during the day (we can't leave it on until we complete the wall insulation).

People are always interested in our make-shift ways of figuring things out and getting things done off the grid.  Cutting the furnace chimney hole in our brand new metal roof was another "Depends" (think adult diapers!) moment - one of these moments when you realize you have exactly one chance to get it right.  Not wanting to mess it up, we made a template for cutting the hole into our 10/12 pitched metal roof. (Hint: its not a round hole). To do this we took a section of the 5" chimney out onto the screen porch, which is also 10/12, held it vertical with a piece of cardboard on the underside of the roof. Mkay shined a flashlight up the pipe and I traced the outline. We re-traced for the 1.5" clearance then duct taped the cardboard pattern in place and cut the hole with a jig saw. Badda Bing, Badda Boom! It worked like a charm!

Family joined us for a weekend in October (Alisha, James, and Alex) so we took advantage of the extra muscle to move a "few" things into the cabin. I filled a rental truck with 800 sq ft of reclaimed barn wood flooring for the main cabin floors. Then I decided to "balance" the load with 30 sheets of 4x8 sheetrock. We also brought up the wood stove chimney parts, our Vermont Castings wood stove (which weighs over 500 pounds itself), and the Elmira range (not quite 500 pounds). If our math was close, we were near the weight limit of the rental truck at 4300 lbs but we made it without incident. Mark's Motto: A Secure Load is a Safe Load ... so we used plenty of straps to keep the load from shifting during transit. Unloading was a piece of cake with all the help (MK and I let Alex and James do most of the work!  Alisha, who happens to be eating for 2, supervised). We intentionally rented a Penske truck as they have more clearance, allowing us to back the truck up and use the ramp to make a bridge onto the deck. (Once again proving that Mark is anal retentive).

We also brought up the tile for the utility room and bathroom and the Dens Shield underlayment (goes under the tile, for those not familiar). We'll need the heat on to work on tiling so that project will need to wait for insulation.

Our son-in-law, James, must be charmed.  As we built the fire for the first night's leisure time, he wondered aloud whether we might see northern lights.  Not to disappoint, Mother Nature provided a long show of them throughout the evening.  Later this fall, we had a moose encounter as it sauntered right past our not-yet-screened porch, startling Minne, and subsequently the moose (!) who took off at high speed down to the lake.

The DIY siding jigs have worked great to allow Mark to install the 16' 2x10 siding solo. Another successful DHFDF (Do Hickey For Dumb F____) has been born!

A couple more miscellaneous things we got done this summer:  With hopes of returning the bobcat to its owner this fall I built a small boulder retaining wall along the cabin to protect the septic system cleanout. We also had our trusty excavator (Brad) out to repair our mile-long driveway; unfortunately he had to pull out due to rain and we have about 1/4 mile remaining. Mother Nature won the race on removing the bobcat (think SNOW),  so we'll keep that kidnapped for another winter and return it next spring. Sorry Wayner!

Each season, we seem to have a "blooper" or two story to tell.  This fall, we found a unique way of getting the bobcat stuck (nothing better than having 6000 lbs stuck!). Trying to maneuver the bobcat in a tight spot, I wedged a 14" diameter maple tree (that is on a steep slope) between the front and rear tire (not just anyone can do that!) - thankfully, the bobcat was leaning against the tree. Trying to get it out just put me in a more precarious position. With the bobcat nearing its tip over point we (Dave and I) decided to hook a chain to the bobcat and use the truck for resistance. In order to get the truck into place we had to back up all the way around the cabin. As I backed the truck around the cabin I remembered the bobcat forks were there. No problem! I successfully cleared the forks and WHAM! managed to back the truck into another maple tree. It won the battle and took out the tail light and crunched the rear quarter panel of my truck (ok, if you've seen my truck, you might not think that's such a great loss). WAIT! We're not done yet ... we hooked up the chain to the bobcat and the truck - put the truck in 4wd low, tensioned the chain and managed to get the bobcat unstuck without issue. WAIT! The truck was revved a bit too high and literally slid sideways for 12 FEET and stopped with the pickup high centered over the picnic table!! (WHAT?) In the end, we disengaged the truck from the picnic table successfully. (I only wish we would have had a video camera on that scene, because it would have potentially won us $10,000!). Contemplating what to do next and not wanting to do any more damage, we felt it was best to sit quietly on a stump and contemplate the event.



Hope you enjoy the blog!!!!

M&M