Ceiling and an Outhouse. All in a Weekend.

We busted it this weekend. That's for sure. We were able to shiplap the entire ceiling and also the underside of the loft on Saturday and put together a pretty good little outhouse on Sunday. The outhouse was kind of a spur of the moment thing, but I guess a man can only take so much poopin' in the woods before enough is enough.

It was a busy two days, but it's always rewarding to get so much done. Two trips to the lumber yard (they definitely remembered us this morning), a failed attempt to buy some wood from a local lumber guy just down the road from us, one trip to the antique shop (looking for a smaller coffee table) and a whole lot of driving all over Southern Vermont. Fun.

The drive home with shiplap was definitely one to remember. We had so much wood hanging out the back of the truck that I had to sit in the bed of the truck to make sure the wood didn't spill all over the road. It was fun for about 5 minutes but that 10 degree wind chill got pretty rough after about 20 minutes. Thank God I had a hat and gloves. That probably didn't help my cold now that I think of it.

I think we're past the worst of winter too. Lisa, our coffee house friend agrees. Next time Chris and I go up the snow may be gone? It's weird leaving and returning home to no snow at all and spending a few days in VT where they definitely still have snow (be it only a few inches). But it did snow a little bit Saturday night. We drove through some snow on our way to the West Dover Inn where we had dinner at the bar. It was a new place and it was good.

Yesterday, Chris and I hit one of our patented working "grooves" where we got into a rhythm of roles and what we each could be doing to make the work go smoothly and we just cranked it out for a few hours. Good work, efficient, smooth, no mistakes. It's fun working so hard and being totally in sync with the person you're working with. At dinner we talked about the outhouse, drew some plans on bar napkins, and readied ourselves.

The place is looking amazing. And there's not a ton left to do either (well, besides enjoy it all). Just the walls and the exterior. 2 or 3 more trips. Then we have to deal with the foundation and getting something more permanent. That's going to involve us jacking the whole cabin up, digging some holes, pouring some concrete and dropping the cabin back down. I'm not looking forward to that weekend.

But in the meantime, we're making progress and enjoying every second of it. I had a stuffy nose for a few days before we left and it returned about 30 minutes before we got back to my house today. I think the clean VT air was good for me.

Sweat Lodge or Cabin?

Man that little stove gets hot.

We got that sucker pumpin' Saturday night and with a little more work, we could have hit 90 in the cabin. Needless to say, it was hot. Very hot. I got up once Saturday night to put some wood in the stove but by 7:30 Sunday AM it was still close to 60. And comfortable. Sadie kept saying the cabin was "nice and toasty".

We had a lot of fun this weekend. The first family overnight at the cabin. It's a pretty cool feeling sleeping in the cabin I helped build with my family. Just another piece of the puzzle and the dream being realized. We did some sledding, snowshoeing, made hot cocoa, and had a great time. Played board games and cards at night and went out to breakfast in the morning. Perfect stars last night that stretched the whole sky. Amanda and I stood out in the total darkness and pointed out different constellations that touched every corner of the sky.

We stopped off at the Yankee Candle Flagship store on the way up and that place turned out to be a lot of fun, especially for Sadie. She had a blast. That place is like the Disney World of candle stores. Next time, we may stop and make our own candles.

The weather was great and I can't wait to get back up there. 7 weeks from now, spring will be here and it will be a whole new world to enjoy up there. It's fun to go up and just relax with my family, though I do love going up and working sunrise to sunset too. We've come a long way.

Morning at the Cabin

Cookin' up a mean breakfast on the propane stove. Pretty sweet. Lots of bowed trees on the property. This one's right in front of the cabin and looks pretty cool.

0 Degrees Outside, 63 Degrees Inside

First it was "pretty soon at least we won't be wet". Then it became, "pretty soon at least we won't be cold." Now, as of today, we're both dry AND warm! Good thing too because this morning it was -1 degrees. And it felt that cold too. I was outside for about 15 minutes at peak coldest and couldn't have lasted much longer.

The wood stove is in though, and working awesome. We installed it Saturday night and tested it out. It never dropped below 50 last night and for the first time in a while, I found myself taking off layers, not adding them. We had a few issues (back smoke from the stove, heat control issues) but this A.M. we fixed it all up and it was working perfectly this afternoon. We got it up to mid-60's this afternoon without too much wood or effort (and that was in 10 degree outside weather).

We spent Saturday night at our new dinner spot, The New England House. We got two seats at the bar and watched the Pats beat the Broncos.

We also finished the insulation in the cabin in probably what took only about an hour's time. Working together, we were in a zone like never before. Next, we did a few little things, cleaned up and arranged furniture, spray-foamed a few unfinished areas, and even relaxed a little.

It was amazing. The sight of a smoking wood chimney from a wood stove is a pretty sweet sight. It just keeps getting better up there. Next up is the ceiling and flooring.

Trail Cam

From when Amanda and I went up in December for the day and then Chris and Haley a few days later. It was beautiful up there with a little snow falling. This is the first picture the trail cam took. The quality isn't that bad. There's a night picture too.

Wood Stove Art???

So, instead of using a boring heat shield for the wood stove, I had the idea of making something a little more interesting. I built a 2x2 frame, poured some quick-set concrete, and laid some slate 4"x4" tiles in the concrete. I probably could have thought it through a little better, but we'll see how it turns out. Tomorrow night I'll break off the frame and see how it looks. Worst case scenario, I'm out $25. Best case scenario is it looks great and I do the side wall shield as well.

Just For A Day

Amanda and I went up today. And it was amazing! I hadn't been up in over a month and Amanda hadn't been up in close to 5 months. Too long.

It was beautiful today. Cold, a little sunny, and flurries. We got there, started a fire immediately in the fire pit, laid some stone around the concrete blocks and drip edge, took a walk around the trail, and finally fixed and re-stocked the wood shed. Chris and I originally built the shed backwards so we had to just switch the backing from one side to the other. Easy enough, though Amanda was pretty cold and had some frozen toes by the end of it.

Amanda had also not seen the damage since Irene and there are definitely some memorable images, most notably two pieces of steel that previously were part of a bridge that were bent literally in half and moved by the power of raging water.

Amanda also met Lisa, our friend/ owner of the local coffeeshop, where we stayed and talked for probably close to thirty minutes. Vermont.

Unfortunately, our camera died halfway through the day so I was only able to get one picture, and an unmemorable one at that. Too bad, because when the light of the mid-day sun was out and the snow was falling, it was pretty incredible.

Wood Stove

Pretty soon this little guy will be keeping us warm in VT. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Let There Be Insulation

Well, winter is finally coming, be it a few weeks late. This reprieve has really saved us with the cabin as we've been able to get loads done without any serious interruption. But it's getting cold. This weekend hit the teens in southern VT.

Chris spent the night last night and got a bunch of insulation done. Another day up there, and the ceilings will be done too and we can move on to the wood stove. Right now, wall insulation is done. Every little thing that gets done is another check off the list to being where we want to be.

The wood stove is due to arrive this week, although it looks like we may not be able to get it installed this year. Amanda, Sadie, and I are hoping to make it up for a day-trip over my Christmas vacation (weather permitting) and hopefully we can get some of the insulation work done for the ceiling rafters and maybe set up the trail cam that Chris and I bought each other for an X-Mas gift. After that, hopefully Chris and I can get the stove done in an early January overnight. After that, the cabin will be open for visits in any weather.

I don't get sick of looking at pictures of the progress.

So Close

I can't believe we've made it this far in only two months. So satisfying.

Well, there's snow in Southern Vermont. I'm wondering if we've seen the last of the ground. Beautiful stars at the cabin tonight.

We were able to finish the loft today. Awesome. And it's bigger than I thought it would be too. Not too shabby, though it did do in my camera. We tried to take a staged photo of both Chris and I in the loft. We set the camera on a 10 second delay and jumped onto the loft. But the camera fell off the wall joist from 8ft. up, falling to its death. Fail. Now we need a camera (Black Friday shopping anyone)?

We took out the barn doors, installed a new wall, and an awesome 1x6 window we bought a year ago from a discount store for a cool $58. Who doesn't appreciate a good deal, especially when it looks so good. And it does look so good.

We put up stairs leading into the cabin and moved onto the Tyvek. Everything went smoothly until we ran out of staples for the staple gun. I took a dash to the local hardware store, 20 mins. away one way, for staples. I was home in a cool 45 and was able to help put the finishing touches on the vapor barrier paper.

We also spray foamed a whole bunch of the gaps throughout the cabin. Both of us got it all over the place, in addition to the intended spots in the cabin. Chris got it all over his face and I got it all over my jacket...and in my hair. Awesome. Rookies.

Next up is insulation and the wood stove. It's happening. And it's happening faster than I thought it ever would.

One Step Closer

Chris spent the first solo night at the cabin and kept the progress moving. I bet a wood stove would have been nice last night, huh? It won't be long now.

Last winter, we bought a 1x6 window from a bargain outlet store. The window was like $60 and it has been sitting in my basement for a year. We decided to take it up and find a place for it. Lucky for us, it fits exactly in the barn door space. Our plan is to cut down the doors about a foot and slide the window in the space above the doors. It should look really cool.

Chris was also able to hang the loft rafters today. All we need to do now is attach the plywood and we're good to go there. It won't be long now before one of us is sleeping up there. It's only about 4 ft. at the peak, and that drops quick, but it's still going to be very usable space. I know I'm psyched to sleep up there.

And, randomly, our old friend Todd Brown showed up with some dirt for us to fix the trench left from the water overflow from Hurricane Irene. Chris was able to temporarily fix what was a pretty banged-up driveway. At least we can get through this winter now and really address the problem in the spring. We've got big plans for the property and water and we plan to address those (with the help of Todd) come April/May. Todd helped us out and didn't charge us a dime.

On the way home, Chris filled up at the gas station at the end of the road. A truck pulled up next to him with a deer in the back.
Sweet.
Vermont.