As the Super Blue Moon visited Huron Bay, we clicked off more big milestones. Final inspections done! Stairway complete! Queen bed in place! And,Mary and Jeff finally do a camp-out!
This past week deserves exclamation points, as our DIY new-home construction nears its end at Camp Many Moons in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Lake Superior. See the story in photos and captions below, including the ongoing challenge of sealing our concrete floor.
To complete the stairway and meet code, we added this sturdy oak railing.
We put the railing in the loft too, as a safety feature. But before we could call it “done”…
…we took the rails (which Jeff had cut to size) outdoors for sanding and conditioning. This part was my job.
Then, back inside to stain. This was Jeff’s job. He’s built and stained the whole “system” and wanted to complete the masterpiece himself. I don’t blame him.
While we were finishing the stair, the mechanical inspector stopped by and added his green sticker to the boiler. The next day, the building inspector visited and gave his thumbs-up. Inspections done! Certificate of Occupancy granted! Wow. It’s hard to believe. I almost don’t.
So I finally removed this building permit from a tree trunk at the head of the drive. It’s been there since last June …14 months. How strange to take it down!
Also this past week, a friend gifted me a queen bed, which we picked up with Jeff’s truck and trailer – just in time for a family visit later this week. (That quilt is made of commemorative t-shirts…10K runs, triathlon, marathon, scuba & sky diving, unusual work assignments like Antarctica & Cuba. Strange to look at it now. Did I really do all that?)
Meanwhile, Huron Bay remained consistently calmer than I remember since I bought this place in 2017. If we weren’t building, I’d be out there every single day.
And then the Super Blue Moon made an appearance.
It even peeked into the triangle windows of the cathedral ceiling. You can see its reflection on the water. We won’t see this very often.
The moon remained huge for three nights. Here’s how it looked as I arrived with my car headlights still on.
Roscoe the Siberian Husky remains healthy (for a very old dog) this week after the big scare a few weeks ago. It makes me so happy to see his tail up.
Since Roscoe is doing well, Jeff and I celebrated our milestone with an overnight camping trip to a local music festival. Bands came from Canada, Colorado and California…all the way to the far-north. The music was great!
We stayed in a campground near the festival site. I was lucky to snag a site during this busy weekend, thanks to a last-minute cancellation. I stayed in my tent. I like tents. Jeff doesn’t. He got a new/old truck camper and is much happier in there.
After our camp-out, I joined the hiking group for a 5-mile hike along Lake Superior’s shoreline. Gitchee Gumee broke records this month for the warmest-ever surface temperature everywhere. Glorious!
This is some of the clearest water on earth. (It’s about two feet deep here.) I dunked myself six times during the hike. I don’t handle heat well, and dunking is a great antidote! The fact that the water was almost 70 degrees made it easy.
Refreshed by the breaks, we tackled the rest of the floor-sealing job. (We left the living/dining area for last, practicing on smaller areas first.) I covered the walls and appliances and cabinets with paper to protect against overspray, which Jeff wisely recommended. He experimented with a roller in smaller rooms and it proved to be a challenge, so we got an industrial sprayer to do the biggest room. We read instructions, watched videos, got advice from the seller, and tested in a closest, but still couldn’t be sure how it would go.
We even covered the wood stove! And of course cleaned the floor very well. It was very hot today and I was so glad to notice how the house stayed fairly cool thanks to good insulation and the concrete floor. The ceiling fan helps, too.
I admit I was nervous as Jeff applied the acrylic sealer. (We considered 2-part epoxy but that would have been an even bigger challenge, and more expensive.) This sprayer works very quickly, and he was done in minutes. I took this pic through the screen.
And now we wait for it to dry before deciding on a 2nd coat. This floor is an ongoing experiment…in-floor heat underneath, dye added to the concrete before pouring, then spread by a group of friends and neighbors, then ground and polished by another neighbor, and now sealed by us. We can’t find anyone else with our specific circumstances, so it’s been a bit of a gamble. I did intend to hire this job out but couldn’t line up the local experts. Jeff was game, so we went for it. So far, so good! There are flaws, but they’ll be covered by area rugs. I’ve learned a lot about overlooking flaws, but am eager to do some clean-up and touch-ups. Stay tuned for final floor decisions plus baseboard installation.
Congratulations! The “cabin” is so beautiful and one-of-a-kind. It will be a wonderful place for gatherings of families, neighbors and friends as well as a refuge for when you just want to be among the trees, the water and in the quiet of nature. Diane
For Many Moons 
wow. The house is lovely. And I’m so glad Roscoe is up n runnin’! Life is good at Many Moons!😃
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Where did the time go? Quite an accomplishment for the two of you. Congratulations!!
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Congratulations! The “cabin” is so beautiful and one-of-a-kind. It will be a wonderful place for gatherings of families, neighbors and friends as well as a refuge for when you just want to be among the trees, the water and in the quiet of nature. Diane
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