New ride for the new year ahead

I forgot to mention, when we were there David got me a scooter. (Actually an ATV) We actually took a picture if me riding it the first time we went to visit, before we new we were going to be building a home there. Its bright yellow, and it is sitting waiting patiently for me to return. I don't ride very fast, and I will have to rig something up for the dogbeast to ride in but its a lot of fun!

Very "before view"

You know how folks like to share the before and after pictures of a project... well these are REALLY before. Here are pictures of the plans... this is just a drawing of the front and then the back. We sure like it! Small, but just right for us and this next adventure! Its kinda fun because the cottage is on a slope so from the front it looks teeny tiny... but as you can see from the back view.. the side that faces the lake.. it is much bigger looking. We are going to have some great views!

The top floor is actually an open loft bedroom.. the open part being over the living room on the middle floor. The living room opens up onto a deck that runs across the length of the home. The bottom floor will be where our desks sit, one on each side of the door. The laundry room will also be downstairs. I am VERY excited about working the landscape and have different ideas everyday! I just have to remember short summers. freezing winters, sandy soil.. oh dear.

Eek gads!

Holy crescent wrench Batman! We just got a proposal (i.e. bid) from a plumber on our very small not opulent cottage like cabin. There must be some kind of mistake! We immediately are looking into ways to cut costs on this one, perhaps just use a plumber to rough plumb things in.. who knows! We are scrambling to get this organized and much much cheaper! I think I will become a plumber in my next job incarnation... however, I don't want to crawl under houses because of the spiders that may be waiting there for me....so I may be out of luck.

Snow Dog

Its going to be interesting how our little jack/fox terrier cross deals with the snow. Well, he has seen snow before but I suppose its the cold that will be the new experience for him. Geez, if he is not covered with his blanket on the couch he gets chilly and when it rains he tip toes outside when we take him out to pee, etc. I may have to invest in those dog boots for him and a coat. He is not quite ready for the Iditarod Great Sled Race yet.

OH.. the weather outside is frightful...

But the fire is so delightful....

Well there is definitely no question that we will have white Christmases while we are at the cabin. Check out the winter time view from the bedroom of the old cabin... Since this photo David and his father and nephew Josh cleared out quite a few of the trees down near the lake. This winter Jerry has been building a ice fishing house to keep there. I might have to get some ice skates... yeah right it gets way below zero there. This California girl is in for some changes!

First steps...

Well, its really not the first step but some of the first "big" materials we got was the flooring. We decided to go with wood laminate and found a place called ifloor.com on the web and got a great deal! They even send samples for you to check out and we decided on the mellow cherry. It will cover most of the floor in the cabin/cottage and we think its beautiful. It has been shipped and is waiting for us to install it. Of course... floors and walls would help too.

You wondering why?

Here is a photo of the old "cabin" that is on site.







You may notice it leans in two directions... pretty clever for a building that has been there since the 20's or so. There is no foundation, you can tell that the owner just kept adding rooms as he felt necessary.. like a bathroom. However, he did not bother to take down the old stuff. Meaning there was an outhouse close to the house with a bucket of lye and a pile of beer cans inside. Inside the "cabin" he left walls in place that still had the window openings. Openings that at one time had glass and used to look outside now they are just wide open views into the other rooms. There was even a copper tubing gas line for several old camp kerosene lanterns running through the house... right next to the obligatory bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling with pull chains/ropes.

You may ask... WHY?
This is why... it is nearly 2 acres of heavily forested land with over 100 feet of lake-front. We have only one full time neighboring family on a lake that is (except for our side) surrounded by a National Forest. We canoe in the evening, listen to loons all day, fish when we want, and watch the eagles circling overhead. Tough to beat.