About that September trip

The Minnesota lumberjacks

We arrived at the cabin to find that we had lots of little critter visitors - we loaded and spread out mouse traps and sticky traps along the paths they seemed to be taking.  We caught a bunch!  Our neighbor, the game warden, told us that mice are particularly bad this year - the acorn crop was so sparse that they are finding it hard to find food of any kind.

We also arrived to find at least 10 large trees uprooted on our property - the result of some big winds that did some severe damage north of us.  One tree lost a huge branch that ended up draped over our second story roof and hanging all the way down to the ground.  Landis and Paul got out the tractor and it took the two of them working to keep the tree from falling on them or breaking any of our sun room windows.  Because of the downed trees the lumberjacks were busy cutting, hauling, and stacking wood.

Whenever we find tasks that were unexpected it keeps us from getting projects done that were on the list.  Little bathroom work done and we didn't get the counter tops done either.    

The Sun Room

In the sun room

Let the voting begin - as we traveled we (my sister, Paul, our granddaughter and I), voted on colors for the upper walls in the sunroom - the walls from 7' to the floor are a soft grey.  We finally decided on a Sky Blue, we wanted it to be a light color as the room is in shade all year round.  The ceiling fan will also be painted - it is white now but needs a little jazzing up - each blade may be a different color or the blades may be painted as a large sunflower, or they may be white with blue, green, orange, yellow and red dots.

Heavy Lifting Projects

Just about dropped it.

Our last trip seemed to involve lots of heavy lifting.  Paul and I moved 2 huge cabinets into the sun room and dining room.  But before we could pick up the 2 cabinets in Wadena we had to unload scores of shelves and cement blocks to our big shop.

Paul was mowing our many acres of lawn and the mower quit - he and I had to push it up into our enclosed trailer to be able to get it into town.  Push, hold, brace, push, hold, brace, up into the trailer.

Our September trip

Our next trip to the cabin will be a busy one - we plan to celebrate 4 birthdays, have carpet laid in two bedrooms and the loft, and redo our kitchen counter tops.  We will continue working on painting the exterior of our 2 garages - we have a power washer to clean them and a paint sprayer to do the actual painting.  Trim work will probably be the most time consuming. 

The mower is fixed and ready to go - so there will be lots of mowing to catch up on.
Paul is also learning how to lay tile for our downstairs bathroom - we will keep you posted on his progress.  

Washer/Dryer

Towels for the guests

Paul connected up my washer and dryer - this will be great as I will not have to haul bedding and towels back and forth from ND to MN.  Speaking of towels, Paul had a great idea - give each guest their towels (in one color), for their stay.  Because the rooms are small we will install towel bars or hooks in each room for a place for hanging bath towels, hand towels, and wash cloths.  We have a variety of colors - red, yellow, light blue, dusty green, lavender, coral, orange, purple and pink, for guests to use.  

Progress at the Cabin

Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters

Work continues slowly but surely.  The insulating team came in to insulate the basement - first with 1" of foam and the next day with 3" of a cotton denim batting - for installers - so much better than the fiberglass.  They wore full respirators and coveralls.  Paul looked like he was ready for "Ghost Busters".

The day after the insulating was complete Paul started replacing the 2"x4" floor plates that had rotted out from the water in the basement.  He will begin tiling the downstairs bathroom - a brand new skill for him.

Mowing our huge yard is a big project - the grass was 2' high when we arrived.  Due to new drain tile, septic mound system, and eaves troughs we have no water in or near the house.  The biggest bonus is that there is no pond in the back yard, no water draining back into the house and fewer mosquitos!       

Getting ready to insulate

Old log chute

A Brighter Sunroom

Air ferns in their new home

Our sunroom has 3 walls of windows so light is always flowing in but it is fairly dark because it is in shade throughout the day and the logs around the windows/doors are dark brown.  I opted to paint the logs our trim color, soft grey - three walls are complete - I will finish the room on our next trip to MN.  This room will be our family game/puzzle room.  I hung up my new air ferns (you water them once a month by soaking them in a bowl of water for about an hour), and moss covered balls.

Lighting up the sunroom

Re-done sunroom chairs in blue