Bonfire

Family and friends joined in a weekend meadow-clearing and bonfire time complete with wild boar sausages cooked over the open fire. We "camped out" in my folk's barn nearby the cabin site and had a large time!

Little garden helper cleared away weeds and grass from iris plants that were planted last fall. She did all this very diligently while others gathered limbs for the bonfire.




Now that is some wood hauling! We had such a great time together. Laughter rang out across the meadow. There's not much better than making a bonfire outside with friends.




Daddy/daughter hiking time was part of the fun. All in all, when night fell, and the meal was over, the stars created the most spectacular event of the whole weekend. We picked out constellations so bright with the absence of any interfering light source. It was magical!

New Construction Foreman

My niece and nephew are visiting from out of town and made the trip to check on the cabin this week. My nephew was not content watching the concrete pour from up above (where we sat), but suddenly appeared in the midst of the workers. With hands on hips, he observed, contemplated, and then began to INSTRUCT! Oh, yes, he pointed out where the concrete needed to be spread, how the buckets were to be handled, and gave great input (not requested, input, but valuable, I'm quite sure). It was amusing from my vantage point. Good humor was maintained by all.



Then my niece and I took time out to wade into the cold creek. Note her toes curled up! We waded in with the dogs, threw sticks, splashed, and squealed with the shock of the cold water. It was a beautiful spring day with blue skies, warm sun, and a cool breeze. All three of us hiked up the ridge line and out to the upper road. It was a great day for adventure.

March 19, 2009

The stone masons have begun to place the stones around the foundation of the Writer's Cabin. Rocks are plentiful, but gathering them is hard work. A neighbor has been helping out scrambling through the woods to collect rocks for us.






Writer's Cabin chimney, sub-floor, and foundation are ready for the log stacking to begin. I hoped to see logs today, but not quite yet. Perhaps next visit. When the cabin was dismantled, they were numerically coded in order to put them back together...sure hope those numbers are still in place!







Remember the crack? Well the guys have added more support and are now enclosing the foundation and support structure with stones. So far, it looks like a good solution!





Progress on the main cabin included the "basement" floor and another layer of the wall foundations in concrete. This little basement will be the control center for radiant floor heating boilers, the hot water heater, and any batteries for the solar energy system. The energy situation is still in limbo. Trusting the solution is nearing. Stay tuned...

Cantilever Crisis

One week since the last posting...arrived at the job site. An unusual spring snowfall prevented the crew from working the entire week. Do you see what horrible site met me on the porch rock? Your eyes are not deceiving you...there IS a crack. A hairline crack was discovered the entire width of the beautiful limestone. Eeeeeekkkkk! We examined it, phoned in a geo-tech engineer, and have determined there was too much weight in the unsupported part. Our choices: 1. Remove, search out a new one, replace and 2. Extend the support structure underneath the present rock. We chose number 2. Hopefully this is the right decision. It was difficult to find such a perfect fit for the location. Never a dull moment in the wilderness...