First of all, apologies for the neglect. I know you’ve been dying to hear what’s going on, when in reality there’s been a lack of updates due to the lack of updates :). On a positive note, there’s been a ton of change in the foliage and what they say is true, April showers bring May flowers (and it’s not even May yet!). I’ve been taking crazy numbers of pictures of all the new blooms because I can’t get over how gorgeous this place is in the Spring – and I have a feeling we’ve just barely started! Here are some of the better snaps for your viewing pleasure:
I know what very few things are, I actually downloaded an app to help me find out and have been pretty much drilling my MIL to learn what all the various blooms are. Not that I will remember next year. But hopefully as time goes on I’ll learn to be an experienced gardener and know all about all the beautiful blooms. In terms of the Cabin, we had a couple of weeks of little progress. This past weekend we started getting it ready for the big lift project – which I am out of my mind nervous about. It’s going to go great. It’s all going to work out perfectly. Let’s keep that positivity rolling. But seriously, it’s so nerve wracking to even think about lifting up a log cabin that was built nearly a hundred and thirty years ago. So, we’re looking forward to it (where’s that sweating emoji?!). Here’s a couple images of our progress:
Basically, we’ve got some lower logs that have substantial rot due to their proximity to the moisture and soil on the ground. Our plan is to secure the cabin with a series of 6×6’s and then lift the cabin up off of the rotted logs, pour in a foundation, and lower the cabin back down onto the foundation with a beam of treated wood separating the two. This weekend we’ve been working on getting all of the 6×6’s hung, and then we plotted out a level line all the way around the cabin that we will eventually cut so that the cabin is level when we lower back down onto the level foundation. Finally, we measured a hole for a beam to slide through so the jacks will have something substantial to lift on.
On some of the walls we’ll have to cut down the middle of a log in order to maintain a level field for the foundation all the way around the cabin. It’s going to be a very big and stressful project. It doesn’t help that I’ve got midterms coming up and my husband has a big project going through at work (and it’s their busy season right now!). It’s funny how life keeps trucking even when you’ve got plans and are hoping for a little lull while you get everything lined up and checked off. Eventually we’ll have a beautiful place to call home. Eventually we won’t have to crawl around on the bed over our sleeping spouse to get our work clothes out. Eventually….we’ll probably have more projects. For now, we’ll just keep dreaming about the beautifully blissful moment of moving into the cabin and waving goodbye to RV living. I keep having to remind myself: slow and steady. Not all progress gives instant gratification. Once we get the cabin lift ready we’ve got a whole different project: replace the rotted wall with a stick-built wall! Cross your fingers for progress next weekend!
The Homestead Journey 