At Home In Logs

Wiring the Master Bath

2012-01-26T21:13:00.002-05:00

The Husband has spent several days wiring up the Master Bathroom. It is a wonder to behold.

I love this about The Husband -- he has skills in abundance which I do not even begin to possess. And I flatter myself that I have a pretty wide knowledge and experience, so to watch Bob build our house is humbling and inspiring.

That, and he's pretty cute.

Sorry. C'ain't help it.

Wintery Lake

2012-01-21T13:25:00.002-05:00

The view from the front of the house:

The Boy enjoying that view:

The view from the back of the house:

And a view of The Lake, just to round out this cold and sunny Saturday!

Master Bath!

2012-01-17T16:34:00.001-05:00

The Hubs is just cooking now! He and the FIL installed more drywall in the master bath today:

And then made these nifty shelves in the wall!

I think I'm in love!

More ceiling and the help of old friends

2012-01-16T13:06:00.001-05:00

The in-laws were hosting their friends of 45+ years, Al & Jean, this weekend, so Bob took the opportunity to press Al into his chain-gang of friends-who-help-with-the-house. Since it was about ONE degree (F) out, I stowed away with the Hubs on his way out to the lake and thawed out by the in-laws' wood stove. Ahhhhhh. Warmth. Plus, I got to take pix of a few more pieces of drywall being installed in the master bathroom. I love me some progress!

Know what else I love? Three generations working on the house together:

Granted, The Boy's skills are limited to being the screw-bearer for Daddy, but it's a start!

Here's a shot of those two sheets of drywall installed on the slanted portion of the ceiling:

Kind of awkward through the wall studs, but you get the picture.

So, thanks, Al! C'mon up and hoist sheetrock any time!

Snow days and ceilings

2012-01-13T15:09:00.002-05:00

Two snow days in a row for both me and the kids! Woo-hoo!

And what did The Husband do with his snowy day?

Started working on the ceiling in the master bath. Yes he did.

Pocket Doors and more!

2012-01-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

{What a great store that would be.}

This little guy greeted me when I visited the log house on Saturday:

As Paula Poundstone once said about Henry Winkler, "Now there's a happy little fella!"

Once inside, I was greeted by this happy little fella too:

No, not Bob. Well, yes, he was there too, obviously, but I don't think he's often referred to as a "happy fella." I MEAN the pocket door in place! First one, then two!

The walls on either side of and above the doors will be pine board. ~~The Troll~~ Bob's sister gave us a gorgeous colored-glass window for Christmas this year that will go above the doors. I cannot WAIT to have it in place up there. It's perfect.

While shopping for a refrigerator, which we didn't get, we got a stove. Which I don't have a picture of. But we also stumbled upon a great deal on a hot water heater and snatched that bad boy up.

Bad boy.

So, while we don't have plumbing, we do have the theoretical ability to heat up water.

Anywho, it looks a little like progress, eh? Huh? huh? Who's with me?

Gleam!

2012-01-07T08:03:00.000-05:00

One of those projects that sort of chugs along and gets worked on here and there is the shellacking of the pocket doors for the master bedroom (upstairs). Bob has been chipping away at them for months now. Remember? The frame has been up for a while:

And, in an effort to not monopolize all the sawhorses for just this one task, he's been applying the finish one coat, one side, one door at a time.

And now? The final coat, of the final side, of the final door has been applied!!

Gleam! Can't you hear the music swell? No? Just me? Ah, well.

Stay tuned, since I'm pretty sure those suckers are going to be installed soon!!

It's the Little Things

2011-12-23T07:21:00.000-05:00

It's the little things that get me all excited about progress in building our log house. It's also the little things that make me suspect I'm losing my mind.

But I digress.

What I really want to know is: is it wrong that when I hear familiar phrases this Advent and Christmas Season like the passage from Isaiah 9 that reads,

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light"

I think of this?

I'm starting to put everything in the context of our log house build!!

I would show you the actual lighted lights in the ceiling, but it's such a tall ceiling that it doesn't look like much yet. Some day I will grace you with that lovely vision.

This particular light switch is one that has dangled, unattached and un-usable by accident-prone folks like myself, for quite some time. So, while the ceiling lights on our bedroom were technically wired up.... they weren't functionally so. Until now! Ta-da! I do get excited by the little things.

What? You say you want more light-related images? Sure. I can oblige:

This poor little fella needs a handsome blue box too!

BabyM in action turning on (and off... and on... and off... and...) the main ceiling light over the living room and hallway as well as the ones in the upstairs ceiling.

*Side note: now that she's FIVE do you think I need a new name for BabyM?   AmazingM? WildM?   The Girl?   LittleG is now The Boy; do I need continuity here? *

When we went up to the log house to stoke the fire at the beginning of the week, I discovered that several light switches were all attached and in their safe little blue homes and pounced with squeals of delight on them. The Hubs is so terrible about downplaying the small steps toward occupancy that he makes every day! If it was up to him, I would have two blog posts:    here's a cleared lot and here's a completed log home.    Argh!    Details, man!     *sigh*    I'm minutae-girl and he's big-picture-boy.   It's a mixed marriage.

But I digress.   Again.

So, despite the crazy unseasonable weather we're having here in the North Country (this morning's dusting of snow is only the third or fourth we've had so far!), I think this Christmas may be a very happy one for us.   After all, we have more lights.

May you have a logarriffic Christmas, New Year, and generic secular holiday!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

2011-12-17T22:17:00.000-05:00

.... a North Country winter.

Especially considering that it has only snowed a couple of times this winter and that sorry excuse for snow has immediately melted away. Definitely NOT like a North Country winter!

But today was cold! Snowy! And so we headed up to the log house this morning to stoke the fire before the poor cold house froze up. {As always, by "we" I mean Bob. I am not good with fire. Or ~~splinters~~ -- I mean wood.}

And then we headed home for grilled cheese made with local Mcadam cheese and my father's homemade bread, and a marathon house- and tree-decorating afternoon. Ta-da! Now we're festive outside AND in!

Of course, ask me how festive the snow makes me feel in March.

And then cover your ears.

December

2011-12-13T17:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long gaps between posts, folks. It's one of those tricky times when the house progress isn't particularly visually interesting or scintinllating to relate via blog... so, while I can't offer pix of Bob firing up the wood boiler or shopping for single-piece shower units (riveting though those things are), I can demonstrate the ways in which The Husband has ~~warped~~ influenced our children.

We visited some area museums the weekend before last as we were out and about doing Adventy-Christmas Prep things. First we hit the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society's House of History annual Christmas Tea where The Boy cleaned out their bake sale. Then we headed out to the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association's Wilder Homestead for their "Christmas With Almanzo event."

BabyM and Grandma

After The Boy and BabyM hit the cookies and cider again, they listened to all of 5 seconds of the chapter of Farmer Boy being read aloud in the farmhouse before heading back outside ...

...to the small grove of maple trees.   Hello! Farmer Boy!   circa 1840s farmhouse?    anyone?

Nope. Hey, look: trees!   Snow Geese flying overhead!   A dusting of snow on the ground!

*sigh*   This history-loving momma's plans were roundly ignored.    They didn't even care about the crafts.   Still, I shouldn't complain -- at least they didn't try to re-enact the throwing of the stove-black brush in Almanzo's parlor.

D'oh! Now I've given them ideas!

West End

2011-11-27T18:14:00.001-05:00

My previous cryptic post referred, of course, to Bob's recent work on the back side of the house.... specifically the west gable end. He has been finishing it off with cedar shakes and insisted that I not show any pictures until he was done. ... and, he's done! And IT. IS. AWESOME.

See?

The east gable is all log, as you know, but this side of the house faces the woods and The Hubs decided not to expend the time and energy to make it log all the way up. I'll tell you what, though: I'm not sure which I like better. They are both so beautiful.

I also have a confession to make: I've had these pictures for five whole days. I know, I know! I'm sorry. Bob sent them to me the day we left town for a Thanksgiving trip to MD and VA. And I intended to post them for you while we were down there, but we were busy doing this:

and this:

The Washington Capitals won, the ducks eventually trusted us enough to eat from our hands, and it was hilarious watching BabyM run in the surf's edge at Virginia Beach -- her first time at the ocean.

What's up next? Laundry.

Oh, you wanted to know about the house? Ummm.... plumbing, I think. Check back soon.

Cryptic

2011-11-18T20:59:00.001-05:00

After a couple of weeks of radio silence, I'm back! Not that I had gone anywhere, but I'd just got a bit behind in my blogging. Shake your head at me if you will... I just had a few things around the house I had to finish up.

You know, I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite book series: Anne of Green Gables. That Gilbert Blythe. *sigh* And the Wonderworks movies aren't half bad -- you should check 'em out.

Well, since Bob won't let me blog about the log house progress, I'll leave you with this thought:

cedar.

Heh.

The Lake Lure

2011-11-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Well, he did it. Bob lured me up to The Lake with that breathtaking picture yesterday morning.

A colleague brought his track-hoe up to help dig a hole near the log house in an effort to improve the drainage in that spot, and soon after the kids and I arrived (with picnic lunch in hand) Bob was in the hole.

After the hole was suitably deep, Bob carted rocks- large and small - to the hole and commenced filling it back in.

But what I really wanted to show you was what a beautiful day it continued to be here in the North Country, and especially up at The Lake.

Wowza.

Doesn't everyone have a huge pile of rocks on their lawn?

So I guess The Hubs' sneaky plan worked. We stayed up there and helped him for hours.

"Helped" being used very loosely here. Mostly I complained that it was colder than I'd anticipated and the brigands that I birthed shouted across the lake to hear the echo and begged for rides on the tractor.

But, it was fun. And then we came home and took naps.

The End.

A chill in the air

2011-11-05T10:14:00.000-04:00

I love Saturday-morning texts from The Hubs. While I'm hanging around being lazy, he's already up at the log house working and - often - sending me pictures from The Lake. It usually has the effect of making me load the kids up and going out to see for myself. Come to think of it.... that wily guy!

Anyway, this is what he sent to me this morning:

Good {chilly} Morning!!

Leaf-leaping!

2011-11-02T20:53:00.001-04:00

Sunday was a beautiful day in the North Country. {no snow here! heh heh} The leaves are dry and made for easy raking.

And excellent leaping!

Wheee!

Walls and ... almost walls.

2011-10-17T20:51:00.001-04:00

In the first floor (spare) bedroom:

A wall.

In the upstairs bedroom / bathroom:

Almost a wall.

So look at that second picture. It's the master bathroom. The window is above where the bathtub will be - see the framing on the log (exterior) wall? The shower will be in the near corner. And that area to the right of the bathroom? Huge walk-in closet. Yeah, baby. I'll get some actual shots of that someday for you. I mean, right now it's just empty space. But it's a-gonna be a closet. Oh yes it will.

Do you still have "The Final Countdown" in your head? Ha! It's nice to spread this insanity around a little.

Enjoy.

Final harvest

2011-10-15T20:19:00.001-04:00

For some reason, I have the song "The Final Countdown" in my head.

So, we trekked up to my father's garden today to help him with the Final Harvest. ("Doodle-oo-doo... doodle-oot-doo-doo... doodle-oo-doo...") Well, not quite FINAL final... there are some North Country palm trees still to come out of the garden:

Har-dee har har. Sorry. That's a little family joke. My father is leaving the brussels sprouts* in a bit longer.

But we helped harvest carrots, parsley, oregano, cabbage, and leeks today.

The garden is looking a wee bit bare these days.

After we filled up the trunk of the car with late-season produce, we stole a couple of the pumpkins that the kids helped Grandpa pick a week or two ago and piled them on top. And then we pealed out of there with our swag!

Thanks, Pop, for sharing another year of your gardening with us!

_______________________
*(editor's note: I have been informed that the correct name is "Brussels sprouts" vice "brussel sprouts." My wordnerdiness has been trumped. I have changed it to the correct version now.)

Some Awe

2011-10-14T22:32:00.002-04:00

Tell me that it isn't soul-satisfyingly beautiful around here. Well, don't really tell me that, because I don't buy it, but ... oh, you know what I mean.

And one more, from the second-story window, over-looking the lake and the trees:

*sigh* It has been unseasonably warm here for a week, and yet we've had these magnificent colors. It's like a little bit of heaven. Leafy, technicolor heaven.

{If in heaven you have to rake up tons of leaves, that is. Sodden layers of heavy, slimy leaves.}

Wait! Beauty! Nature! Color!

{Stupid rain today!}

Bucolic ... bucolicness!

{Winter's coming...}

Erg. Is there a cure for pessimism?

October 19, 2007

Yup, that'll do it.

Wide Load

2011-10-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

Apropos of nothing:

Look at the width of this board that The Hubs just milled! Please excuse my weird-looking foot, but I wanted to give you some frame of reference. Dang!

Even with the edges taken off (something about unusable wood, insects, blah blah), it's still gonna be honkin' huge.

That's all. This post isn't really about anything in particular.

Have a nice day.

Beautiful {Fall?} Day!

2011-10-10T21:20:00.000-04:00

What a gorgeous, unseasonably warm weekend this has been in the North Country! We spent a good portion of Saturday visiting a roadside market and then picking apples at Brookdale Orchard in Winthrop. Great fun and a good excuse for being outside on such a beautiful day.

And now we have three bags of apples to use. Whatever shall we do with them?

I did make some yummy apple crisp Saturday, but we ate it before I could take a picture. Mmmmm. *oink* Oh, pardon me!

Doors

2011-10-07T19:31:00.001-04:00

Bob is still prepping the pocket doors:

Bob's Art

2011-09-27T21:38:00.001-04:00

Pocket Doors and Joy

2011-09-26T16:44:00.001-04:00

Now that we've married off my sister and everything is back to normal....

{yes it WAS a fabulous wedding, thank you for asking.}

{and yes we DO love her new husband.}

{and yes we ARE exhausted after the joyous events of this past weekend...}

... it's time for HOUSE PROGRESS!

Well, after this:

and this:

NOW we're ready to talk logs again.

This is the front wall of the master bedroom on the second floor (not a loft) from inside the room:

And this is the same wall from outside the room. Plus, a little sunbeam action for you, too:

Bob is staining the pocket doors that will go in the wall.... slowly but surely. I can't wait to wake up and slide open those doors, ready to greet the morning.

Hopefully I won't be blinded by that crazy sunbeam! Yikes!

More Walls

2011-09-17T14:33:00.000-04:00

Because I am hermit-like and want doors behind which to retreat from the madding crowd and am obstinate enough to insist on it, our second floor (not loft) bedroom will have walls and a door. Call me crazy, but the idea of having my bedroom open to the world (even if you can't see in from the first floor) doesn't appeal to me. So, Intrepid Husband is crafting the front wall of our bedroom. Ain't he a nice one?

So, since we're going to have this nice wide balcony overlooking the living room and looking out over the lake and such, I need some ideas on what to do with it. Line it with bookshelves? A big mirror that reflects the windows across from it? Squashy armchair and reading light? Desk and work center? Murphy beds for when the cousins descend on us?

Help! I need a general idea so that while it's being built, nifty features can be accommodated!

Thanks!

End of Season Garden Bounty

2011-09-15T21:14:00.000-04:00

We spent Sunday evening eating s'mores and rambling through my father's garden. Even this late in the season, it is still disgorging insane amounts of green beans and jalepenos and cabbages and carrots.

Oh, and pumpkins!

So, since we departed with contented souls and laden arms.....

I made soup.

When your Daddy is Bob the Builder ... Part II

2011-09-13T22:05:00.001-04:00

... his construction site is where you build a castle:

When your Daddy is Bob the Builder...

2011-09-01T19:10:00.000-04:00

.... his construction site is your playground.

Where's my sleeping bag?

2011-08-27T23:48:00.002-04:00

Ethel, this is the big one. That's it - I'm done. There's nothing else to live for. I am a the proud owner of - count 'em - TWO sets of stairs.

Stairs.

STAIRS!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeek!!!

And I walked 'em today!    I know!!!

They have construction treads on them, not their final good-lookin' treads, and it'll be a while before they're complete, but they ARE STAIRS.

So, I'm going to find my pillow and sleeping bag....   'cause I'm moving in. Okay, so there's no plumbing. Or furniture. Details, details.

But let me just say this:

STAIRS!    *Squeal!*

You just want to walk on my stairs. Admit it.

Stringers

2011-08-25T18:43:00.001-04:00

And here they are cut out:

We're getting closer!

Pssssst

2011-08-23T21:50:00.000-04:00

Hey....

Wanna see something cool?

Lookit:

Don't look at me with that tone of voice! It *IS* cool, I promise!

You'll see.

.

Adirondack Scenic Railroad

2011-08-22T15:46:00.001-04:00

Our adventures with the Virginia Cousins took us to the Adirondack Scenic Railroad yesterday. Other than the inevitable hands on ears during blasts from the train whistle, a good time was had by all:

A Perfect Friday

2011-08-20T09:43:00.001-04:00

Our day yesterday consisted of this:

Blueberry-picking, Virginia Cousins, boat ride, roasting Glazier hot dogs and s'mores, and a beautiful Lake sunset enjoyed from the pontoon boat. Perfect.

Except maybe not so perfect for Bob, who had to work all day. And STILL drove us around in the boat in the evening and made the fire for the weenie roast. Whattaguy.

Small Town

2011-08-15T11:40:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, I made an impromptu visit back to the small Central New York town I did most of my growing up in, from ages 5-16. A couple childhood friends had some free time and arranged to meet the kids and I at the Firemen's Field Days.

I don't often go back to visit, since my friends have largely moved away and we have no family there, so it is pretty much preserved in my memory as it was in 1991. Of course, in 20 years things have changed, and a lot of that is my perception -- everything seems so much smaller than in my memory. One good thing is that my childhood best friend's parents still live there, in the same house that I haunted in my youth, and they welcome me back any time cbfAmanda and I cook up a nostalgia trip. Which is awful nice, since I brought my hooligans with me this time. So, Amanda's hooligans + my hooligans = very gracious hosts.

Amanda and I met another friend, Jean, at the fairgrounds and got to see her cute wee baby again, and sent the bigger kids on a handful fair rides... and then ran away remembering that once in a decade is often enough to visit the fair.

We did venture back into town to watch the parade, though. And it warmed the very cockles of my heart. Being away for 20 years will do that to you.

Lots of shiny tractors, many of them with Dads and Kids

I used to play percussion in the marching band there... *sigh*

My candy-hounds waiting for a lollipop to come hurling their way

"Aunt" Amanda and BabyM watching the parade.

Baby M was all: "Mommy who?" this weekend.

I know that my rose-colored memory of my former hometown isn't reality, but it's wholesome things like the little fair and parade that help sustain my version of reality. And is that so bad?

Kitchen Bounty

2011-08-12T14:36:00.001-04:00

What does one do with a free Friday and the explosion of fruits and vegetables that is mid-August in the North Country?

This:

Lemon-blueberry scones, fresh pickles, and vegetable soup! (recipes are linked)

And some more...

2011-08-10T19:54:00.001-04:00

I got to spend some time today up at the log house and to witness The Husband in action.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Here's some more shots of my kitchen, with its lovely walls:

... and here is my kitchen with my sister's beautiful dry-run wedding hair:

Isn't it lovely? She so preeeety.

Kitchen walls

2011-08-08T19:52:00.003-04:00

The Husband came home from work today and sat in the driveway a minute, so, since I'm nosy I demanded an explanation.
"Husband," I says, "Were you napping in the driveway just now?" (not an unprecedented occurance)
"Nope."
"Well, what were you doing? Talking on the phone?" (yes, I'm this persistant and bothersome)
"Nope."
[Lengthy pause.] "I was sending a picture from my phone.... to your email."

There is usually only one thing he takes pictures of with his phone and sends to my email.

That's right.

I jumped up and took off for my laptop and downloaded these beauties:

That's the kitchen!! With DRYWALL up!

Let's check the shriek-o-meter, shall we?

I'd say this is a SQUEAL!!!!

With this many anti-oxidents, I'll never age

2011-07-31T22:14:00.000-04:00

Guess what we did today?

I don't know why I'm asking you to guess. It's totally rhetorical. And unnecessary. Sorry.

The ~~Fresh Air Kid~~ Nephew

The Boy

The Husband

(No, I won't discuss the Stihl hat. Suffice to say: we disagree)

So, yes, of course we picked blueberries today!

And a few raspberries. And a random green apple.

Except Baby M. She picked rocks.

{of course}

Birthday Bounty

2011-07-30T12:01:00.000-04:00

A gift from the flower and vegetable gardens of my parents this morning:

Leaping for joy

2011-07-27T16:56:00.000-04:00

We have the privilege of having a Fresh Air Child for the summer. Well, kinda; he's our nephew. We abducted him from the Suburbs and are teaching him how to split wood and other useful things.

So, when we realized that Nephew hadn't yet trod on the beautiful new upstairs floor, we frog-marched him over and ordered him to appreciate it. {Not really.}

Baby M was so enthralled, she flitted around like a little butterfly. See?

Our Summer

2011-07-19T19:41:00.004-04:00

Here's a taste of our summer (so far) in the North Country:

My father's garden ~ May 30

My father's garden ~ July 2

Baby M watching the older cousins swim on July 3

Casa del Sol with Bob's fam ~ July 7

Cookout (and flying lesson) at Uncle Jamie's ~ July 9

My mother's birthday tea ~ July 10

Hike on the Titusville Mountain State Forest High Falls Trail ~ July 11

VBS (or, let's be honest, the playground at VBS) ~ July 11-15

Canadian Cousins' Reunion ~ July 16

Pontoon party at Chateaugay Lake ~ July 17

Annnnnnd:

(drumroll, please)

Our first swag from my father's garden!!

(minus the two squash and handful of green beans we ate tonight for dinner...)

It's been a great summer so far, and we're only halfway done!

Shiny new floor

2011-07-08T08:54:00.001-04:00

Bob doesn't like to brag, but I don't mind, so I'm just gonna say it:

That upstairs floor is SO BEAUTIFUL!!

The Husband put the polyurethane finish on the floor on Wednesday and I finally got a chance to take a look at it last evening. The photos just don't do it justice -- in person the finish brings out the grain and highlights the ... woodness of it all in a way that is simply breathtaking.

I walked around on the loveliness a short while and then we continued on our way to eat at Casa del Sol in Saranac Lake.

They have a delicious Mango Margarita with cinnamon sugar on the rim of the glass. Yum.

Completed Fire Pit

2011-07-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

I went up to my parents' house yesterday, on that beautiful warm North Country day, to see the completed Fire Pit of Epic Proportions. And.... wow. It's gorgeous!

My father started landscaping behind the seating boulders, and it really helps the fire pit nestle into the landscape:

Here's a view from a distance, for perspective:

And speaking of growing things:

Pop's garden is coming along nicely, don't you think?

.

More floor

2011-07-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

The upstairs floor now has a coat of sealant on it, but since it's a matte finish it's difficult to see anything different from before. But I promised pictures, so here we are:

Isn't that a beautiful floor?!

.

From the inside

2011-06-30T08:15:00.000-04:00

Here's a view of the microwave vent from the inside:

Stuffed with insulation to keep the critters out, of course. Note, too, the electrical outlets which will be in the backsplash of the counter.

And let us have a moment of silence for the poor logs we're covering up there in the kitchen.

*Amen*

"And they call it a MINE!"

2011-06-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

We went on an adventure this weekend to get me a bridesmaid dress. Okay, that wasn't the adventure part -- going to a former mine to hunt for cool rocks was the adventure.

And being at Ruggles Mine in Grafton, NH inspired much quoting of Gimli the Dwarf. And, despite the rainy day and general dreariness, we never actually got rained on, and had a great day with my soon-to-be-wed sister Thuthannah and her Mr. T.

We also, despite her obsession with rocks large and small, left Baby M at home with grandma, rather than cart her 4 1/2 hours to New Hampshire... when she is perfectly content playing with the rocks in grandma's backyard. That, and she wouldn't have made it past the gravel parking lot.

Incidentally, since I know you're waiting with bated breath, I *did* find a bridesmaid dress. Okay, technically, my other sister in PA found it first, and suggested it as one we might wear. But after 2 hrs in the bridal shop, we had a winner and marveled at our own low-maintenance quick decision-making abilities. Until we reunited with the boys and discovered they'd been in the menswear store all of 30 minutes and had their suits all decided upon. Now THAT'S quick work.

But did they have to have someone else zip them up? No, I don't think so. So they shouldn't be that smug.

But they are. *sigh* Boys.

Our Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:12:00.000-04:00

Before church squirrel-watching:

Cook-out at The Lake with Bob's parents:

Picked wildflowers:

Canoe ride:

Dinner and campfire at my parents' house:

As we drove home after this very wonderful, very full day, The Husband and I mused that we are blessed beyond measure to have both sets of parents so close that we can visit both in a day, with such enjoyment and no hesitation that such a day as this would bring anything but unmitigated happiness. It is one of the main reasons we have not regretted for one day our moving from the Maryland suburbs back "home" to Northern NY. There are things.... well, mostly people, honestly... that we miss about the other places we have lived, and especially MD, but we don't regret our life here and the changes we have made to make this possible. I reflect on this a lot, because I am a glass-half-empty person (frankly, I'm often surprised there's a glass at all, let alone with anything in it... but I digress), and often expect to find myself regretting the move, or pining for something in our old life. So I'm surprised at my own contentment.

Because I am content.

I'm as shocked as you are. Trust me.

So, Happy Father's Day! Here's to the men who do what is right and best for their families whether it's easy or popular or bone-crushingly, self-denyingly hard. To my husband, the bedrock upon which our family can build. To my father-in-law, who cares for me like his own daughter. To my father, whose constant, steady love and example gave me the confidence and foundation on which I have built this life.

Cart before the horse?

2011-06-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

Sunflowerakb is right! The new hole on the outside of the house is indeed a vent -- for this handy-dandy new over-the-range microwave.

It does seem a bit premature to have the microwave already, when we don't have anything else in the kitchen....

But before the counters and cupboards and large appliances go in, the wiring, ductwork, plumbing, etc needs to be installed. And that includes microwave vent holes. Which you need to have the microwave for.

Stay tuned for other excitement around here at At Home in Logs, like... me mopping the floor. Actually, I did contribute my wee little bit last week, but there are no pictures to prove it, so you just have to take my bloggy word for it.

You remember Bob sanded the upstairs floor a few weeks ago? After the dust settled, he vacuumed. And then blew the dust off of the walls and ceiling... and vacuumed again. And then I came in and vacuumed the floor AGAIN, and then mopped it in preparation for finishing. So now I tapped in The Hubs and he will wipe it down with a tack-cloth and seal that lovely floor. Of that I do hope to have pictures for you soon.

If only people on The Lake would just quit asking for their camps to be opened and docks repaired, I might have a log house! *sigh*

{You do recognize sarcasm, don't you? Of course I'm grateful that the family business is flourishing. If it could just flourish a *bit* more so The Hubs could build the house.... }

Another hole in the log wall!

2011-06-13T17:37:00.003-04:00

Can you guess what this one is for?

More firepit stones

2011-06-05T21:03:00.000-04:00

Some more shots of the firepit, with its additional walkway stones:

We had another bonfire last night, and I'd like to tell you that those sitting boulders are pretty comfy. Unfortunately, the mosquitos and blackflies have discovered the gathering place for tasty humans and descended on us as well.

Building a fire pit

2011-06-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

I'd love to say that the fire pit that Bob, my sister Thuthannah and soon-to-be brother-in-law Terry (woo-hoo!) built last weekend was for me at The Lake... but, alas. This Fire Pit of Epic Proportions is at my parents' house. On the other hand, I'll have every excuse to sit by it when I'm out there swiping veggies this summer from my father's massive garden.

The Husband has been digging up and carting boulders over to my mom's place for a couple of years, just because she loves big rocks and is always on the lookout for the perfect "sitting rock." Then, last week, they went out to a local quarry and bought a ton of flat rocks. No, really: a ton. The pile of rock in the foreground is a ton:

A ton sounds like it should be a bigger pile, eh?

The previous homeowners had an above-ground swimming pool, so there's a handy-dandy flat sandy spot in the yard which is just *perfect* for a Fire Pit of Epic Proportions. Thuthie and B-I-L-T dug the pit and Bob created a metal ring on Saturday, (and on Sunday we had a 40th Annniversary dinner for my parents), and then on Monday they fetched Alice (Allis) the tractor and commenced the Big Boulder Move of 2011.

While the boys maneuvered the giant sitting rocks into place at the perimeter and leveled them, etc., Aunt Thuthie and Baby M placed the fire brick around the lip of the fire pit:

Really, we made the 4 year old do all the work; my sister's just posing for the camera. Get to work, baby!

Then, just as the full heat of the day arrived, they laid the first ring of flat stones.

And then they died:

The Fire Pit is of such Epic Proportions that.... it's not even done. My mother says they placed some more stone for the walkway tonight, but now they have to go get another ton of the stuff to finish it off. Wowza.

I'll revisit the issue when it's completed and we can all appreciate a good burn.

Gardening with the Other Grandpa

2011-05-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

Three generations planted the wee garden at The Lake on Sunday:

And I only got 15 black fly bites. It was a great day.

Upstairs Floor, Part II

2011-05-20T14:20:00.000-04:00

You remember the pix of the totally AWESOME floor upstairs, right? The floor boards made by Bob's own two hands? Well, now they're smooth as glass. Or, well, I guess... smooth as smooth... wood.

For the past two days, The Husband has been sanding the upstairs floor. I'm *still* hacking up dust after helping him two days ago... I'm pretty sure he has sawdust pores now. If he starts to resemble an Ent, I'll let you know.

Come to think of it.....

Anyway, now that the floor is complete and sanded, it can be stained and the remainder of the partition walls can be built. Partition walls = electrical wiring. Quite exciting progress, yes, but do you know what a finished upstairs floor also means? Hmmmm? STAIRS. Yup - beautiful, walk-able STAIRS. *sigh* No more clumsy Anne risking her life cllimbing the blasted ladder. I've been promised stairs in the next wee while. (Which, in Ent-timing, may be next year, but I'm cultivating patience.)

In the meantime,

is there a chiropractor in the house? Homeboy did a number on his neck operating that beast of a floor sander.

Spring View

2011-05-18T21:17:00.000-04:00

This is the view from the upper windows (looking down toward The Lake) now that it's Spring!

Remember the view this winter? When the trees are fully in leaf I don't think we'll be able to even see the lake from this angle. But, since my increasingly hermit-like self is already planning to plant huge hedges to hide behind, it's just fine with me.

Oh, and in unrelated news: guess who shaved his "hockey beard."

No, it wasn't a "hermit beard." That's what I'm growing.

Har-dee-har-har!

Mother's Day Hike

2011-05-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

We (Bob, me, The Boy, and Baby M) went on a hike today with my folks. The river was high, the falls roaring, and the trail a tad muddy, but we had a great time.

The boys all enjoyed popping sap bubbles on Balsalm Firs. Try it sometime -- just don't be on the wrong side of the bubble, or whoever does your laundry won't thank you.

This easy wee hiking trail in Titusville Mountain State Forest is one of the reasons I love living in rural Northern New York. While it is a managed forest and the trail is maintained by the DEC (Dept. of Environ. Conserv.), it does not have picnic tables or pavillions, no port-a-potties or paved trails... not even a paved road in, and no parking lot. It's a trail through the woods. Period. No jog strollers, no cell service, no trash cans. Just a path with some log foot bridges, and plenty of balsalms to pop.

Low-maintenance. Just like folks here.

Our backyard

2011-05-02T20:14:00.000-04:00

Planting for the future, remembering the past

2011-04-28T20:42:00.000-04:00

Three white birch trees planted today in honor of my grandmother, who lived 9almost6 years:

She was wonderful, in so many ways. May these birches grow tall and strong, and bring joy to the next generation.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

VT Adventure

2011-04-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

The Boy and I went on a two-day adventure in Vermont this weekend: visiting with Aunt Susie, spending the birthday gift card burning a hole in his pocket, playing the Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego game, and going to visit the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury.

I love the juxtaposition of old-fashioned "cabinet of curiosities" and new-fangled electronic/computerized exhibits and hands-on learning stations. Makes this museum-nerd's heart go a-pitter-pat.

Oh, and we also braved gale-force winds (a bit of a hyperbole, I just learned at the museum -- "gale" is an actual strength on the wind scale. Who knew?) ... where was I? oh, yes, we made a detour into crazy downtown Montpelier to run up the steps to the statehouse.

Do we know how to party or what?

The Last Sap of the Season

2011-04-14T07:15:00.000-04:00

Although many (most?) North Country maple producers are long since done with the season, our sugarbush is just now throwing in the towel. The elevation makes it a bit colder, longer, which shifts the timing of our sugaring season. Bob is boiling the last of the sap down into maple syrup today. Sunday, we -- me, Bob, my mother and Baby M -- went up to The Lake to grab the last run of sap. The snow is melting fast and it was warm enough for us to eschew coats.

A Very Maple-y Family

2011-04-09T23:16:00.000-04:00

Guess what we spent the day doing! No, really, guess. I betcha you can't guess!

Frozen Sapsicles

2011-04-07T14:16:00.000-04:00

Some parts of the sugarbush are still snowy and ... well.... just look:

That's some cold sap.

.

About Maple Syrup, the Way We Do It

2011-04-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

Bees, Birds, Berries and Blooms asked in a comment on yesterday's post:

"How much syrup do you make in one year? Is it only in the spring? How many maple trees do you have?"

Which caused me to ask The Husband, since I don't know nuthin'.   (Except that you only tap maple trees in the spring, as the sap is rising again from the roots to the branches. That's about the extent of it.)

He says that this year is a little bit of an outlier from the past few years, since his father is out of town for a month or so, which has diminished the number of trees tapped. According to The Hubs, we have about 3 acres of sugarbush -- this year 95 taps, last year 150 taps.   Some trees are tapped twice or three times if they're really huge, so you count by the number of taps, not the number of trees.   If you run into anyone who makes a real business of sugaring, they'll tell you that we're a really small operation. We still hang buckets -- no tubing strung from tree-to-tree for us. No reverse-osmosis machine -- just an evaporator.   It's a labor of love, not really of economics for us. (And by us, I mean my in-laws and husband, of course. I bring pizza up to The Lake to feed everyone; we all have our roles.)

We generally make between 15-20 gallons of maple syrup each spring. This year may be a bit lower than that, but it is soooo light and sweet this year, it's amazing.  If that sounds like not very much syrup, bear in mind that it takes approximately 40 gallons of maple sap to = 1 gallon of maple syrup. That's what all the boiling in the evaporator does -- it just reduces the sweet watery goodness down to pancake-worthy gold.   It's actually very pleasant to mind the evaporator during that time, though; it's warm by the wood fire, the steam is sweet, and you have plenty of time to contemplate the universe. And place bets on when the last blizzard of the season will strike. Easter? Mother's Day?  Dast we dream --- {are we done with snow?}   *shhh!  don't say it out loud!*

If all this is new to you, you might want to peruse my primer on our wee hobby syrup-making outfit from 2010.

Bob and Baby M check out the evaporator

Thanks for the questions, BBB&B! Hope this answers them!

.

Saturday at The Lake

2011-04-03T12:47:00.001-04:00

We spent yesterday at The Lake, enjoying the sweet steam from the evaporator and the hot syrup right out of the strainer.

My mother-in-law keeps a bottle of the first run each year and displays them on a shelf in the dining room. It's cool to see the differences in color from year to year, as well as how differently-shaped bottles change the appearance of the syrup.

For example, this year's first and second runs are the lightest they've been in years, and super-sweet. The little log cabin and the tall bottle farthest to the right are the same run, but the little cabin looks a lot lighter. Also, the three darkest bottles aren't really that dark when seen from a different angle -- but they're certainly not as light as this year, regardless of the perspective!

As soon as The Husband returns from his meeting at church, he's heading right back up there to haul sap and boil it down. He's a good man.

Gratuitous House Shot

2011-03-31T21:45:00.000-04:00

Hello, House!

Drip?

2011-03-30T19:11:00.001-04:00

This cold weather has all but stopped the sap running at The Lake. In lower elevations, the sugaring has continued unabated, but it is high enough and cold enough in our sugarbush that even on today's comparatively balmy spring day, most of the sap buckets were filled with ice.

Baby M and The Husband went up to the sugarbush today to check on the taps. She was oh-so-proud to help Daddy do the sugaring, just like her brother.... even if there was not much sap to collect. I asked if she helped carry the sap buckets, and her reply was: "Oooohhhh -- they were too heavy for me! I had Daddy carry them."

Me too, sweetie.

.

Friends, the Next Generation

2011-03-23T08:18:00.001-04:00

But first, a gratuitous shot of the house:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

It warmed my heart on Sunday, to watch The Boy (formerly known as 'Little G') and his friend Con-Man play up at The Lake. They wandered and imagined and tasted hot syrup.

The reason it warmed my heart is because 25 years ago, it was these two guys wandering and playing at The Lake:

And now it's their sons.

*sniff*

"Uncle" Jamie and Con-Man spent the afternoon with us collecting sap and gabbing by the evaporator. I asked Bob and Jamie if it warmed their hearts too, to see their sons playing together as they had years ago.

Apparently, that's a girl question, since it didn't really compute.

Ah, well, I'm mushy enough for all of us.

Uncle Jamie and Baby M filling the sap collection tank

Summer, Fall, Winter and....

2011-03-20T21:29:00.001-04:00

Mud.

Mud

Tales from the Sugar Shack

2011-03-18T22:23:00.000-04:00

Since there was no school today, The Boy spent the day at the lake helping do the sugaring. He's not too into the hauling of sap buckets, but he loves tending the evaporator. He could be heard this evening trying to explain all the steps to his 4 yr old sister, who was only interested in warming her toes and hands.

(Do you see our log house in the background? Hello, house!)

Steam's up!

The Hubs is in heaven. Maple Heaven.

Did you hear that?

2011-03-17T21:31:00.000-04:00

*Drip*

*Drip*

*Drip*

Did you hear that?

*Tap, tap tap*

Hmmm..... What could it be?

Face Casing

2011-03-11T18:26:00.001-05:00

Those cherry boards that were being planed a few weeks ago? They're now face casing around the windows!

Plus, "face casing" is just fun to say.

Or is it just me? Anyone? Hello?

*crickets*

Logs in Winter

2011-02-25T07:49:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share this beautiful picture of the house, all nestled in the February snow:

Wiring the kitchen

2011-02-24T19:48:00.000-05:00

The Husband has been diligently wiring the kitchen.

I must admit that it's a bit jarring to my romantic idea of the log house. I've had this image of hand-hewn logs in my head for so long that to see wires sticking out of walls seems almost sacriligious.

On the other hand, I'm certainly not going to live in a house without electricity. I'm not that dedicated.

Ayuh

2011-02-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, of course you smartypants readers knew that the giant shadow boxes were really window frames. Here's a beauty all installed, as God intended:

These lovelies will go in the second-story windows:

Besides a snowmobile ride down the lake with the boy,

The Husband spent much of today preparing the cherry facing boards for the windows. They are gorgeous. See for yourself:

Here's the FIL planing the boards:

And here's Bob whispering sweet nothings to the newly planed cherry board:

"Hello, honey. You're nice and smooth, aren't you?"

Stay tuned for the installation of the boards around the windows. Yeah, baby.

Then you'll see me crooning to them. No, really.

Foreshadowing

2011-02-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you know what THIS is?

I'll give you some clues:

My FIL is lovingly obsessing over the details of each one.

So.... do you know what these photos foreshadow? Hmmmm? Well, do ya?

Solace

2011-02-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

January 31, 2011

Betcha You Wish YOU Had an Arctic Entry Now, Hmmmm?

2011-02-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

The floor is complete (except for sealing the cracks and finishing the wood....) upstairs, and now I can (eek!) walk out on top of the arctic entry and LOOK OUT THE WINDOW! It's all very exciting.

Bob pointed out that he'll be putting up a railing so I don't fall off. Yes, me, not the children, mind you.

And this is the view from that window:

I know, right?!

As zoomy as my camera goes; you're looking at the lake. Big white clearing in center of photo.

When we were first designing the house (you know, on a piece of graph paper nice and fancy-like) I had envisioned the area above the arctic entry as storage, closed off from the rest of the space by a low wall or something. But now I wouldn't give up that view for nuthin'.

Let there be LIGHT!

2011-02-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

So the Hubs asks me to stop at the handy-dandy electrical supply store on my way out to The Lake today and pick up some special lightbulbs and a switch. Being a man of few words, said Husband didn't elaborate, and so I didn't realize that they were for MY HOUSE. Yeah, baby. My house. And by "my" I mean "ours" of course. (No, I mean mine).

So, lookit:

Kitchen, plus ceiling liiiights!

FIL puts bulbs in....

The Husband connects the wires, and I flip the switch

AND:

Eeek! Light!

The good news: you'll have a closet

2011-01-31T15:18:00.000-05:00

So, when you come to visit and stay in our guest room (you are coming to visit, aren't you?) you'll have this:

Yes, I know it's a beautiful ceiling.... I'm talking about this:

A closet. Yep. Move right on in!

So the bad news is... it's currently a bit drafty.

More floor/ceiling

2011-01-22T21:37:00.001-05:00

Call us dorky for having an arctic entry carved into the cathedral-ceilinged living room, but you've got to admit it's kind of cool from above.

See before:

January 15, 2011

January 21, 2011

And then today:

January 22, 2011

The last picture is taken from farther back, so it looks a little different, but if you look closely you'll see that we're only a few boards from the upstairs flooring being complete! And, although we didn't plan it for that purpose, you can totally walk out onto the artic entry and look out the second-story window at the lake. My FIL wants to put a chair out there. Now we'll have to put a railling up so I don't tumble off of it (because you know I will).

The Husband says we'll be able to put a board across all the joists and get to the other windows to clean them. Firstly, I hope by "we" he means him, and secondly, what about the state of our windows now that we don't have to exert ourselves to clean makes him think that windows that far up will EVER get cleaned? Yeah, no.

Not that I'm saying our house is filthy or anything, just that our house is filthy. Well, okay -- maybe not filthy. How's horrendously dusty and cobwebby? Messy? Carpet needing shampooing? Hello? *tap tap* Is this thing on?

Back to logs. I hope when I told you to say goodbye to the floor joists, you listened. Because these beauties:

...am ALL covered up!

{SQUEAL!!!}

Ceiling

2011-01-21T19:55:00.001-05:00

The progress of the upstairs floor is just as exciting when seen from below!

The upstairs FLOOR!

2011-01-18T22:01:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas, Bob began laying down the upstairs floor (which is, of course, also the ceiling of the main level). He forbade (forbad? forbidded-like?) me from posting about it until there was sufficient progress to show, however. Until.... now. {squeal!}

Wiiiithout further a-DO, {drumroll, please} I am pleased to presenTAH ......

oooooouuuuurrr FLOOR!

January 15, 2011

Thank you! Thankyouverrrrrymuch!

You'll remember that I've been promising and promising and promising ... and promising that an upstairs floor was in the offing... and now I can finally deliver! And by me, I mean Bob.

These pictures are taken as I'm standing on the ladder leaned against the joist that forms the edge of the second floor. [NOT a loft] The Hubs started laying the floor on the left (south) side.

December 18, 2010

December 27, 2010

January 7, 2011

January 15, 2011

I KNOW, right?! You'll notice that where Husband Extraordinaire is kneeling are not* the hand-milled boards of song and legend; that's where the bathroom will be, and therefore will have a different floor. Fortunately, it's above where the first floor bathroom will be as well, so it doesn't need to have a pretty ceiling. He is fastening down a plywood subfloor in the previous photo.

*{grammar note: no matter how I phrased that sentence above, it sounded wrong. Soooo, I asked my very own -and currently visiting- linguist friend Emma AKA my African friend Emma what she thought. She proclaimed herself reformed: now a de-scriptionist, no longer a prescriptionist, when it comes to language, and therefore I should write it however I want.}

It was exhilarating to walk around upstairs, and look out the window down on the woodshed, and peer down on my FIL as he worked on the first floor.

Facing the front door and arctic entry; the only section of floor remaining to be installed.

Note the log floor joists --- it's the last you'll see of them!

More wiring!

2011-01-16T20:47:00.000-05:00

Look at all this electrical wiring up at the log house!

A new year

2011-01-07T21:07:00.001-05:00

If I was a good blogger, I would have posted my top ten for twenty-ten something-or-other, wished you all a happy new year, and not have waited a full week into 2011 to do any of that.

Well, I don't think anyone's deluded into thinking I'm a proper blogger, so let's just forge ahead, shall we?

Good.

This year, my logariffic resolution is to be more deliberate in my log blogging. So far? Fail. Epic Fail. Ah well. Good thing I'm not responsible for actually building the house, eh?

But, I can show you something a little squeal-worthy. Not stairs-squeally, but quite a good squeak at least. I feel the need to develop a rating system.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEAL! Like stairs. Or kitchen cupboards!

Squeal!!!!

Squeak!

Wow!

Yes!

Meh. Like me sweeping up the sawdust or picking up dropped nails. Oooh.

So, lookit what I discovered today that my handy-dandy Husband (you parents of toddlers will know just how to say that) had accomplished:

That's a downstairs closet wired for lights, baby!

{squeak!}

A Log Home Picnic

2010-12-27T14:31:00.000-05:00

The boy is on Christmas vacation, the girl is sick (poor thing) and the Hubs is up working on the log house today, so we decided to have a nice picnic of turkey soup, cheese curds, and apples with caramel dip. And some chocolates and toffees that we were gifted by friends.

Bob set up a little table of plywood and sawhorses in the basement and the boy dispensed with a recently deceased mouse that got in, but finding no food, decently decided to expire.

I took the opportunity to snap some new pictures of the house on this beautiful and cold North Country day.

Version 1: The kids and I went home for naps and left poor Bob to work on the house by himself.
Version 2: I had to bundle up a sick and crying 4-yr old and the remnants of lunch and drive back to town, while Bob got to commune with his beloved logs in silence.

Hmmmm.

Tour

2010-12-20T12:57:00.001-05:00

So, I feel like giving a wee tour. Probably long overdue. Although, the Hubs just walked by and said, "Great! Now everyone will walk right in our house and say, 'oh, I know where the bathroom is!'" Exactly. When you come to our house (you ARE coming to visit our house, aren't you?), don't expect me to show you to the can. Find it yourself, folks. ANYWAY...

Please forgive my crude floorplan. It's totally NOT to scale.

So, when you walk through the front door, you'll be in our arctic entryway. Please shut the door behind you. It's cold out. Yes, even in July.

As you walk through to the living room, the stairs to go up will be on your right. You can't go up there; it's my bedroom, and it SO isn't clean. Well, it's quite clean now, considering there's no floor, but I'd imagine I won't be breaking 35 years of habit and be keeping my bedroom spotless in this house either. But I digress.

This picture is a view from the kitchen looking toward the living room and dining room. Bob is standing roughly to the left of the dividing wall. The stairs (!) to go down to the basement are at left in the foreground. Again, the chimney and fireplace are blocked by the boards standing up against them (at left).

This next picture is taken from the far corner of the spare bedroom, looking diagonally across the house toward the front door:

This picture is taken from the hallway, with the back door at my back. I am looking down the hall with the kitchen at my left and the dining room at my right. That saw in the hall has gotta go.

And this last one is of The Hubs sanding boards. He's standing right where the half-wall will be between the living and dining rooms. You can see the wall between the dining room and spare bedroom framed up in the background.

So there. Now when you come to visit (you ARE coming to visit, aren't you?) you can help yourself and I won't have to get up from my permanent place in front of the fire.

The end.

More of the arctic entryway

2010-12-19T12:42:00.004-05:00

Just a picture, really:

Or two:

This was taken with my back to the front door, looking out through the door (and wall) of the arctic entryway into the living room. The fireplace is at left, where those long boards are standing up. The ladder is leaning against the edge of the upstairs floor. (That is not where the stairs will go up to the second floor. Those will be in the foreground, which is currently blocked up.)

Okay, now you've got me in tour guide mode. More of that tomorrow.

A snowy, loggy world

2010-12-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

The kids and I spent some time "helping" Bob up at the log house this afternoon. I swept up about a hundred pounds of sawdust and we picked up a gazillion little odds and end of wood. Bob (and FIL Jim, of course) are working on a super-duper-top-secret project that I've been sworn to secrecy about until it's done. In the meantime, here are some cool pix of the snowy outside, from the inside.

It was a beautiful day in the North Country today: snowy but not inconveniently so, and not too cold. Our little brigands enjoyed racing down from our [future] house to see Grandma.

Running through the snow, a race to see Grandma
Hope she has some snacks, I know she'll melt like wax
I'll track in lots of wet, in haste to win the bet,
We'll fight and whine and yell and fuss, but Grandma still loves us!
Oh.....

Er... nevermind. Bob's the better lyricist anyway. No, really. It's weird.

Closet

2010-12-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

And NEXT to the stairs.... oh, by the way... did I mention that I have some

STAIRS?!!!!!

Oh, I have? Well then.

And now, I also have a {large} closet framed in at the bottom of the stairs.

Yes, it is already full of schtuff.

Please don't remind me.

Arctic Entryway

2010-12-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

Our friend Alaska Dave (that's Cale to you) said in his neck of the woods they call our entry room/mud room/front hall/foy-aaaaay an "arctic entryway." SOLD! I like it.

Here's The Intrepid Stair-Building Husband posing (to his intense discomfort) for a quick photo in the doorway between the arctic entryway and the living room.

Hello, Husband.

Are those.... stairs just off to the left of the photo by any chance? Yes, they are? Mmmmm.... wonderful.

Squeeeeeeeeeeal!!!!!

2010-12-06T20:26:00.000-05:00

So, I get a text from The Husband this morning that says, "Today's series is called 'Bye Bye Ladder.'"
Accompanied by this picture:

So I asks myself, I does: "why would a ladder need to go away?" Could it be? COULD IT BE?!

And then a little later, I get this picture:

IT IS!!!! Well, at this point in the picture, it will be.

And a little later, I was dancing about and having to explain my odd, nearly fey behavior:

Oh, it gets better:

So I had to go to The Lake to see this wonder for myself. And I arrived, just as the last two screws were being put in. To our STAIRS. That's right, baby: stairs. From the main floor down to the basement.

STAIRS.

Stairs.

They still need some bracing and such, but I walked 'em. They're stairs all right. And I love them. *sniff*

Entryway

2010-11-30T19:31:00.000-05:00

Bob and Jim framed up the entryway today! Have a look-see:

We know that it goes against conventional wisdom to do anything but a great, big, open floorplan in a log home. Buuuut.... winters are cold in the North Country, and it will cut down on the cold air flowing into our living room if we have an anteroom into which we first enter the home -- an airlock of sorts. A foyer. Or, if you prefer, a foyaaay. Plus, I believe in actually entering a house through its front door, and a family needs a space to hang coats, stash shoes, etc. And I do NOT want that space to be in my living room.

So, when you come over to visit --- you are coming over to visit, aren't you? -- you'll have a nice bench to sit on and remove your boots, a hook for your coat, and a nice warm living room that hasn't been cooled down by naughty children who don't shut doors and who were raised in a barn for gosh sakes?!! *ahem* Sorry about that.

Floorboards a-waitin'

2010-11-21T15:49:00.001-05:00

We are done creating floorboards for the second floor! (Which will also be the ceiling of the first floor)

(from below)

And by "we," as always, I mean "Bob." And my FIL Jim, of course.

Bob and Jim are done milling, cutting, and planing for now, and have stacked the boards on their sides upstairs. The next step is to stain the bottom side (which will be visible from below as the ceiling) and then we will have a... wait for it..... FLOOR. Bearing in mind, of course, that I announced that a floor upstairs was imminent 15 months ago. You may have already deemed me untrustworthy in matters of timelines and progress forecasting. It's a fair cop. All I can say is, stay tuned.

In other cool house news, when I took my leisurely perusal of the men working hard on Friday afternoon, I discovered them on bended knee....

...marking the location of the door frame between the entryway/front hall/mud room/etc and the living room. Part of the beauty of designing and building your own home is that you get to decide where every little thing goes. Part of the pain of designing and building your own home is that you have to decide where every little thing goes. Like exactly where the door will go in the space available in the not-yet-existant wall.

And another random picture:

Look at how tall those boards are that are leaning against the chimney! No particular reason for noting them. Just thought they were cool.

Boards, again.

2010-11-15T21:47:00.000-05:00

Bob's tutorial on prepping one's own floor boards:

Just because a board is milled straight, doesn't mean it dries straight. When you encounter a board with a wavy edge, you need to give it a straight cut.

1. Snap a blue chalk line along one edge.

2. Using a circular saw, cut along chalk line.

3. Run board through table saw.

4. Now, plane the board smooth.

Voila! 5 years later, you have enough floor boards for your new log house!

Hairy logs

2010-11-14T18:16:00.001-05:00

Well, they MUST have been hairy, since The Husband had to shave them.

Har-dee-har-har! Just kidding. The Husband had to shave the uneven areas of the joists on the second floor, as he is prepping for the laying of the floor. He planed some of the logs where they join with other logs to make them flush. (He actually said he was "planing the log joinery," but I had to ask for a paraphrase.)

Yes, you heard right: The Husband said he was prepping for laying the floor upstairs. Hallelujah! Amen.

It was a beautiful day in the North Country today and we spent the whole afternoon up at The Lake. Hubs' birthday lunch.... woodstove warmth... cooking down pumpkins with my MIL... and communing with my log house. Ahhhhhh.

And naps. Definitely a good use of a Sunday afternoon.

Woodshed with a ta-DA!

2010-10-22T19:59:00.000-04:00

That husband! I've been asking him for a week what's been going on up at the log house, and he's been noncommittal, at best. So I go up to fetch the boy today after work and lo and behold, there's wood in the woodshed, which now has a nifty sliding cedar door. To wit:

Cool, eh? Remember when the boiler house didn't have a woodshed attached yet? Here's a view to refresh your memory:

See the white door in the left wall? It's the same white door in the pic above that. The radiant floor heat system works like a charm, and now the boiler shed and woodshed are all set... how's about some, oh, I don't know.... STAIRS in my house? No? Oh, okay. What's next, then, husband?

Kitchen cupboard framing thingies? That works too.

Hidden Progress and a beautiful fall day

2010-10-09T15:27:00.001-04:00

So I'm trying to find cool progress updates to post so y'all don't abandon us ... but the progress is all, well, hidden.

For example, Bob filled the radiant floor heat system with anti-freeze, but there's no cool image there ... and then he fired up the wood boiler for the first time (EEEEK! I KNOW!), but again, no picture. I begged for at least a photo of smoke coming from the chimney pipe, but apparently the boiler's so efficient, there's barely any smoke. Sheesh! Plus, it's been raining to beat the band for weeks and so I can't even post pretty pix of the outside of our log dream.

So, instead, I give you bea-u-ti-ful fall pictures from the boy's soccer game this afternoon. First blue sky day in a while.

The woodshed that ate New York

2010-09-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

*sob* This woodshed has .... *whimper* EATEN my cute little boiler house!

OH THE HUMANITY!!!

Er. Just kidding. Isn't it great? Time to teach the boy how to chop wood now, I guess. BOY! HEY BOY!

Oh. I see you're still busy pulling nails from those boards. Well, hurry up. Daddy says he's repurposing those boards into pallets ... for you to stack firewood on. On which you'll stack firewood. Yeah, that.

More! More! More!

2010-09-14T22:19:00.000-04:00

{sing-song} Wooooodsheeedddd!

Today

2010-09-13T20:27:00.000-04:00

Rain, then sun, and a beautiful start-of-fall evening. Mmmm.....

and this:

Woodshed progress, baby.

Sunday Post

2010-09-12T15:43:00.002-04:00

Hymns are balm to my soul. Poetry and music joined. With my hither and thither travels this summer, I have missed more church than attended, and was feeling the ill effects. Songs of restoring Truth go a long way toward filling me back up. Including one from this morning, one verse of which I repeat here:

Come thou fount of every blessing

O to Grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee;
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Words: Robert Robinson, 1758
Music: John Wyeth, 1813