Warm and cozy, just as I hoped. It took two guys about five days to get it up. It's a lot of wood. The addition of the ceiling helps the Cabin at Many Moons finally look like a cabin. The wood installation isn't done yet, but I couldn't resist showing some pictures now. For those … Continue reading Ceiling’s Up!
When doing a DIY building project, there's the big stuff and the small stuff. The big stuff is rather fun. It's the small stuff, like finding the right screws, that can drive you nuts. So I've given up, for now, on finding the tiny screws to attach the new knobs to my vanity. The knobs … Continue reading Screw It
It's a phenomenon I haven't felt since retiring, this driving need to stay on task. Set daily priorities, accomplish them, evaluate, adjust. Next? When we set out on this ambitious DIY building process, Jeff promised to give it a year. Is that even possible, I wondered, without a contractor? When I know nothing about building … Continue reading On Task
Average annual snowfall here on Huron Bay in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is about 100". This year? I can't find the total-to-date, but it can't be more than 20. When it does show up, it's not much and doesn't last. Snowmobiles are grounded. Skiis and snowshoes sit unused. The ice on the bay comes and goes. … Continue reading A Strange Winter
And now, the installation of interior doors as our DIY progresses to create the Cabin at Many Moons...another milestone in the process of turning a house into a home. We've had reliable heat for months. We have a flush toilet and shower, and a washer and dryer. And now, a door on the bathroom. Yes … Continue reading In-Doors & Outdoors
Sometimes the moon jumps into your eyeballs -- especially when it's full -- and reminds you to Just Stop. Look. Breathe. Notice. Make sure you're living and not just existing. When you're doing DIY construction, it can become a long grind from one task to the next. Each morning, the same questions: What's the top … Continue reading Full Moon, Full Schedule
The things we take for granted in "civilized" life! Winter has finally returned to Michigan's far-north. Snow is falling steadily as I write this, now measuring five inches with more to come and temps falling to 10 degrees. But the real headline here is something indoors at Camp Many Moons...something most of you take for … Continue reading Winter & Washing
Now he's a lumberjack. And a sawyer. Jeff had the idea of creating the steps to the loft from a local maple. He's been looking for the right tree for days. Yesterday, the chosen maple came down...all 60 feet of it... along with a hemlock just as tall which was intertwined alongside. Tha-whump! I caught … Continue reading Tha-whump! Two Trees Down.
It's February, and winter still hasn't "arrived" here on the 47th parallel. I'm back at Camp Many Moons in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where wild turkeys waddle out of my path and deer bolt across it. I hear coyotes at night and see evidence of a wild kill underfoot. And where is my attention? On toilets … Continue reading Picking Paints, Flushing Toilets
What kind of wood (lumber) to put on the vaulted ceiling of the Cabin at Many Moons? And where is the snow, anyway? Those questions distracted me (in Virginia) and Jeff (in Michigan) for weeks. Finally, both questions are answered as we continue our long-distance DIY home-building collaboration. Winter officially arrives Dec 21 in the … Continue reading Wood & Winter
For Many Moons 