In our DIY building adventure, we're both good at staying "on task." We're progressing steadily toward final inspections, which are necessary before the house can be inhabited. But you have to take a break sometimes. Today, we took one. On the water. Yeah. When you work for yourself, it's easy to forget about self-care. (It's … Continue reading Boating Breaks While Building
Building new stuff is one task. Maintaining old stuff is another. We're doing both at Camp Many Moons on Huron Bay as we build a new house while battling trailer limitations, rain effects, and insects. (They have the right to exist. They feed other forms of life. I know this. I just wish they didn't … Continue reading The New & The Old
As DIY continues on Huron Bay, Jeff installs the cabinet lighting and glues countertops while I plant. The story in photos and captions below. The quartz island became a work surface while.... ...Jeff figured how to use the squeeze-tube two-part epoxy that goes into the countertop seam. We "scootched" the countertop this way and that … Continue reading Lighting, Gluing, Planting
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 … Continue reading Mulch & Countertops
Nature continues to entertain us as the kitchen takes shape in the Cabin at Many Moons, on the waterfront in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Cabinets are in and countertops are on the way! We are now one year into this building project. (For Day 1, see this post.) It's consuming but tolerable, since we are surrounded … Continue reading Cabinets Are In!
Siding done. Yes! Attention now turning outdoors again...to piles of gravel and wood, and the tiniest bird to grace Camp Many Moons. See also, below, a cameo appearance by our domesticated animals.... With siding all on, the Cabin at Many Moons actually looks like a cabin, both from the road... ...and from the water. Notice … Continue reading Big Piles & Tiny Birds
Whew. What a joy to cover up that white plastic sheeting we've been looking at for months. My new cabin is finally getting its skin...brown skin, to help it blend into nature's background. Almost one year after we began this "let's build a house" nuttiness, the outside is starting to look like the vision in … Continue reading Siding Going Up!
Window trim. Lighting. Floor sealant. Shelves. While we await installation of siding and arrival of kitchen cabinets, there's plenty of "fine work" to do. Even though we're 1,000 miles apart right now, Jeff and I continue to partner on everything. I'm shopping/buying and he's installing. The big leaps (laying foundation, erecting trusses, etc.) are more … Continue reading DIY Home-Building: The Fine Work
Every choice has consequences -- often several levels of them -- and the challenge is to imagine those consequences in advance. This certainly applies to house-building. Less than a year ago, we began building The Cabin at Many Moons. Many choices later, it continues to come alive. The nerves (electrical system) and vital fluids (plumbing) … Continue reading Third-Level Effects
During DIY, mistakes will happen. Things will spill, break and not fit where they should. This post is about those. (For more uplifting views of spring snowfall and dogs, scroll on down.) When Jeff and I were doing The Great Loop, I tried to post occasionally about the challenges of living on a small boat … Continue reading DIY Oopsies
For Many Moons 