I spent on quartz but saved on mulch. That’s how the mind works during pay-as-you-go DIY homebuilding. Always a mental negotiation re. costs.
And it is more of a home each week, as we enter our 2nd building summer. The quartz countertops have arrived on Huron Bay, and I love them. (Jeff loves the look but not the work. Laminate would have been much easier to install.) While awaiting their delivery, I visited another sawmill in search of good mulch. Bingo! We soon filled up Jeff’s truck bed and moved a step closer to exterior beautification.
Inside and outside progress outlined in photos and captions below, plus more of nature’s gifts.
Bulk mulch is much cheaper than buying by-the-bag. I visited one sawmill last week but no luck. This 2nd sawmill is just outside L’Anse, the village closest to Camp Many Moons. The hard-hatted workers pointed me to the maple bark piling up under the conveyer.
I took a closer look and realized it’ll do nicely to prepare for plantings.
We returned the next day to load up jeff’s pickup. This sawmill specializes in hard maple and delivers to wood-product manufacturers in Wisconsin. Our cabinets are maple and came from Wisconsin, so we like to think the wood came originally from here. Locally sourced!
In preparation for mulch, Jeff had already spread the gravel that serves as a path and boat launch, and created edging from leftover lumber.
He curved the edges just the way I want, asymmetrically. (Trying to create even or straight lines would be inconsistent with the natural look I want.)
One side covered with maple mulch. I like! The gravel and mulch immediately reduced the sand we’re tracking into the house…a logistical relief.
Both sides covered. Roscoe likes, too! I’ve ordered blue-rug juniper and golden snowcrop (sedum) as ground cover. Both love the sandy soil here and are drought-tolerant and deer resistant. Plus, I’ve had luck with other kinds of juniper and sedum. (I don’t want to say how many plants I’ve lost. Deer-heavy Zone 4 is tough on growers.)
And, countertop delivery. From Menard’s — like the cabinets, windows, and doors. We opted for delivery vs. pick-up, which cost nearly $400 from 80 miles away. Doesn’t look like much, for 1,200 pounds and $3,500, does it? (The cabinets and countertop together cost about $16,000. I include cost sometimes because I know some readers and future renovators are curious.)
They were well-packaged and secured. First step is to confirm the delivery is correct, since this truck made several stops. Yup, there’s my name. We took it apart and moved the pieces inside. It took four of us, using Jeff’s heavy-duty straps. It was a bit scary but worked well, thanks to Jeff. (Quartz weighs 15 lbs/sq ft.) I didn’t get pictures because I was carrying…
Looking more like a kitchen every day. After research, I knew I wanted quartz (vs. pricier granite or inexpensive laminate) but choosing the color was harder. I almost switched to black, which I have in VA, but glad I stuck with white since I needed to introduce some light. The right backsplash will pull it together. I can now imagine the appliances in place, stools at the island, and company soon! More work to do to level the countertops and insert the sink. Next, I need to shop for refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave. What a process. But days like this are satisfying.
While fussing with mulch and countertops, the weather continued to change and amaze.
Night-time thunderstorms are always dramatic, especially on the waterfront. This is 10:30 p.m., through the camper window, as lightning lit up the rowboat and dock, briefly turning off the solar lights. I never before saw lightning have that effect on solar lights.
This morning, I woke up before 6 a.m. to pre-sunrise fog hanging over the water…
…and, minutes later, the sun’s arrival.
The greens of the banks glint in the early-morning sunlight.
Roscoe crawled his way out from under my car to ask for breakfast. He goes under there during thunderstorms. Sure wish he’d use his new doghouse.
Early-morning on the waterfront is glorious on clear days. The white camper has a great view, which is why we’re tolerating living there for the 4th (5th?) summer in a row.
This little camper is my office (or “studio,” when I want to feel important 😉 ), where I write and do Zoom meetings. I blur my background when on video; it’s a very old camper! But it also sits right on the water, so I can hear lapping. Hoping to have a newly-built studio soon.
This is the view out the front door of the tiny camper. The water was really low this morning. The seiche (inland “tide”) seems more dramatic after a storm.
As the sun rose, the bay remained glassy but the fog dissipated.
Here’s the early-morning view from the front door of the new house. Imagine when the white trailer is gone and the brown mulch is covered in plants.
I’ll have to wait for my domesticated-plant joy, but wild-plant joy is already here. Lupin season!
And thimbleberry season will arrive soon. I see lots of blossoms on my land but have never seen a berry. Maybe this year! (Thimbleberries are a rare and sought-after delicacy.)
On one of my irregular breaks from Huron Bay, I joined the Sunday hiking group for a trek up Mt. Houghton overlooking Keweenaw Bay. It took two hours to drive there, but worth it. Camp Many Moons is about 30 miles east of here as the crow flies.
How often can you see clouds reflected in Lake Superior? Not often! (Huron Bay and Keweenaw Bay are both on Lake Superior.) The Huron Mountains are visible in the distance.
And, one last look at the Cabin at Many Moons. Much visible change here in the past month.
For Many Moons 
many many many changes have happened at many moons camp! It looks like paradise to me♥️
LikeLike