Some hire an expert. Some try to figure it out themselves. I'm the 2nd kind, with mixed results. A house isn't a home until the landscaping is done. As with this house itself, DiY is preferred when possible. (I'm all for experts in areas where my knowledge is lacking and consequences are big -- like … Continue reading Amateur Landscaping
Some of you want to see the inside of "the house that Jeff built." (That's what a lot of people call it.) In photos and captions... His staircase is the crowning glory. (I chose the design and some of the materials, and painted the metal parts, but the woodwork is all his.) I loved adding … Continue reading The Inside
The bad news: spring arrives slowly here on Lake Superior. The good news: you can watch it arrive day by day and appreciate each gift as it comes. (And sometimes goes again, which makes its return all the more precious.) Gifts don't always come wrapped in tidy packages. Sometimes they're messy, or slow to arrive. … Continue reading Slowly but Surely
Here on the 46th parallel, we're closer to the North Pole than the Equator and the arrival of spring isn't always apparent. March and April bring mixed weather...60-degree melt one day, re-freeze the next. It keeps things interesting for both animals and humans. Herewith, photos of how it looks these days on the north (Lake … Continue reading Spring?
We did it in 12 days. It's wasn't The Great Loop - but it was a loop, and it was great! The Lake Superior Circle Tour is "a thing" among northerners...to drive the 1,300 miles around the biggest, coldest and deepest lake in the world. I grew up on this lake, and saw "Circle Tour" … Continue reading Lake Superior Circle Tour – Pt 1
I call it a cabin because that's the "feel" I'm after. And a cabin needs a loft. It's getting there! The stairway to the loft is getting there too. This blog first documented our conversion of an impenetrable waterfront lot into a park-like setting. (Day 1 of that adventure starts here.) Now, it documents our … Continue reading The Loft Takes Shape
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
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!
For Many Moons 