Today marks one year that we’ve owned our little (soon to be) oasis. This beautiful gem of a property first showed up in our lives in mid June and, I kid you not, the moment I laid eyes on the Cabin I knew it was the one. Now, just to be fair, there were like 4 other properties before it that were “the one”; but this one I immediately knew was far superior and the actual one. These photos are from June 14, 2018 and the first is the view that instantly won my heart.
We have done a ton of work and made an incredible amount of progress over the past year. From renovating the shop with a rotted out wall into the “Honey House” as a temporary joint living space where we can relax outside the RV and trailer, to completely gutting the old 1890’s Cabin and ripping off the entire water damaged and falling apart addition. Not to mention the new foundation she got, and the outstanding garden my MIL has grown. Add in trying our hands at raising chickens and ducks and barn kittens, we’ve certainly been busy! It’s obvious that this place was once loved dearly, from the amazing gardens still shining through the overgrown wilderness patches they’ve become, to the thoughtful woodworking that was found in the Cabin and (now removed) addition. We’ll be working throughout this coming year to bring our old Cabin back to her former glory as a cherished home.
We still need to finish framing the door and window on the South wall, install a french drain for the footing, remove all the old chinking, dig out the interior for the crawlspace, remove the upstairs window framings and put in current standard size framing for the new windows, strip the upper lathe and replace all the failing wood, media blast the whole Cabin, treat it for bugs, stain it (?), seal it, and put in all the new windows and doors. And that’s just to seal it in for the winter before all the rains come (gotta love the Pacific Northwest!). Where’s that nervous sweaty face emoji when ya need it?! Regardless, the amount of progress we’ve made is outstanding, especially for the busy schedules we’ve all got!
This past weekend we worked hard to get the exterior framing we put up for the lift removed so we could really get moving on the chinking removal and set ourselves up to get the next few projects going. Unfortunately, everything always takes longer than expected and we only got 2 out of the 3 walls completed. Oy. We’ll keep chugging away at it, but getting to see the Cabin free of its exoskeleton for the first time in months was definitely rewarding, and absolutely motivating!
We used the old cedar beams from the upstairs floor joints and planed them down into standard sizing to frame in the windows and doors. It was so cool to see how much different the wood looked even an 1/8 inch under the aged exterior! Using the old cedar not only saved us money, but also hides well against the rest of the logs in the Cabin!
Mav, always photo bombing! Ha! 
I used the chips from planing the beams to give the Rhody some goods to break down through the winter! I’ve been trying to keep up with the flower gardening I started, but lately my main focus has been the Cabin and soaking up some R&R before my final year of schooling!
We had a little property warming party the weekend before last which was a blast (and semi exhausting as all parties tend to be!); we got to meet the majority of our new neighbors and share our progress with friends, family, and coworkers. My grandma brought this awesome “welcome to the farm” sign, and we got to show off our Maui sign that the in-laws made us for Christmas after we saw a similar one on the Hana Highway in Maui. It rained (in the middle of August, of course!). But it was so great. Looking forward to having an actual housewarming party in the future. And maybe an RV send off party too. Can’t wait to say Sayonara to the old Tioga and move on to bigger and brighter spaces!!
The Homestead Journey 
You guys are amazing!!!! Such changes just since your party. I love reading your blog!!
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