Everything but the Shed

So much for working on the shed this week! I did manage to pick up a few parts from the store, but there was too much else going on. Monday, Kile came up to help me out with the tractor maintenance. Sure went smoothly with is help! On Tuesday I did some work for a client, and met some new clients in the process. Finished the job on Thursday.

Thursday afternoon was the girl's first XC meet. Grammie and Grampie came up for it. The organizers decided a last minute time change would be a good idea, so by the time we arrived at the scheduled time, the race was about over and our girls didn't get to run. What a bummer! We went for a nice walk by Teal Lake instead. Dinner was fun too. 

Got some studying done, errands run, and other odds and ends taken care of. Then it was back down to finish the sawmill on Friday. Had another nice visit and got the job just about done. Even did a test cut. Looking forward to getting it up and running outside the garage! Abigail tagged along and wove some more pot holders. 

It works!

Pizza time.

A hike by Teal Lake.

Fall colors come sooner to Ishpeming.

Added some decking for a client.

A beautiful day by the greenhouse.

Making friends.

Topped off an old 2x4 handrail.

The Sawmill

Dad and I have been busy with putting together our new sawmill from Sweden. IKEA on steroids. Quite the puzzle. Not done yet, but the frame is together. Need to work on mounting the engine, blade and making the final adjustments next weekend. Nice to spend some time in Escanaba. Taking one girl at a time for this task, so it works well for everyone! 

Did the work to prepare for a new hand railing that one of my clients requested as well. Finally a rainy morning. Planning to do the install sometime this week. Need to have some money coming in. 

Had a difficult time dealing with the insurance company this week. Still not sorted out. Trying to get a new policy on the home and car to save some money and have a better agent, but they don't like the workshop. 

Worked on the greenhouse and planted some trees to replace the ones that died and grapes too. Finally on sale at the greenhouse. Hopefully this winter will be a bit kinder to them. Naomi has had another rough week. Sure hope she is feeling better soon! 

Amazing packing job!

New plant from Aunt Jenny.

So much stuff in such a small crate.

What a puzzle!

Working on the handrails. 

Back To School

Sort of. The girls had their first day on Tuesday! It was a good week. They are happy to be back! Naomi did not have a good week. She was sick at home. We did walk the girls to their first ride to school on the bus though! So nice that the school was able to arrange a stop for us. It's a 7 minute walk from our house. The girls have been liking it. Saves us a lot of time and effort.

Managed to wrap up the roof on Monday. Returned the extras on Tuesday. Took care of some errands on Wednesday. Redid the bottom parts of the shed roof on Thursday with some extra roofing materials as it was leaking. Made it into a living roof. Worked on the shed a bit more on Friday.

Got to see an old friend from college and his wife on Saturday. They didn't bring their kids with them this time, but they will next summer. Such a great family. They are both from Marquette and it turns out his mom lives around the corner from us! Heading to Escanaba to help unload and put together the new sawmill. The girls need a little apart time too, so the timing works well. 

Garden produce.

A front yard visitor.

All done!

All done!

The first day.

Roofing

Definitely not my favorite job, but I can think of worse ways to make $20,000 dollars. It has been really hot, so jumping in Lake Superior has been a wonderful way to end the day. My friend Matt is helping me with our roof, and next year we will do his. Sure am happy the tractor is able to help us lift stuff up to the roof. 

We had a surprise thunderstorm in the middle of the night. It poured for hours. Hasn't happened all summer, but it comes during the night that we didn't cover up properly. Water in attic and house. Hot enough now that it should dry okay, but what a bummer. 

Naomi and the girls have helped out too! Sure goes faster to have someone handing over the shingles. Two days left, and it should be done. We heard what sounded like a rooster one morning, and only three hens have been laying, so we aren't sure...otherwise the chickens are doing well.

Hen or rooster?

Taking advantage of the shade.

The OSB was all in good shape.

Making progress.

Abigail is tracking the eggs.

Monarchs and a Wedding

We started the week with a trip down to the Stonington Peninsula to see the monarch butterflies gathering for their big trip across Lake Michigan on their way down to Mexico. We got their at the beginning but still got to see a lot of butterflies. It was great to talk with some of the volunteers there who were tagging and counting them. Always fun to go up the old lighthouse too. 

After a round of golf (finally) and some dinner at Grammie and Grampie's, we picked up four chickens for our coop. The original plan was to get chicks, but there weren't many this year, so we go four full grown hens. Two of them were getting bullied by the flock, so we think they will do better at our house. So far they are settling in and we have gotten at least a dozen eggs! Abigail is tracking the numbers.

Made some progress on the shed, got the roofing supplies (now the weather goes from dry to rainy) and even worked in a round of disc golf with the girls. Yesterday was the wedding of Naomi's colleague, and the girls even got to come along. They had a nice venue right on the lake. Amélie made a wedding cake for them! She was so nervous, but it was very popular!

Watching for eggs.

The first one!

Lots of butterflies.

Windy up there!

The wedding cake is ready.

12 Years

The girls had a wonderful birthday celebration this week! They worked really well together on planning out the day, setting up everything, and running a really fun birthday party. Grammie and Grampie came up the night before. Two of their friends slept over after the party. It was a great day. 

After a day of rest at home, Grammie came back up for the girls and we met her at Lakenenland. It was a lot of fun, and impressive to see this guy's artwork that he made out of junkyard scraps. Stopped by the greenhouse too, but nothing on sale. I saw my friend Sean the builder on the way back and then met with the insurance company as we need a new policy. Tried to start an online course to get my builder's license, but the content doesn't work. Hmmm.

I have been making progress on the new shed for boards and bikes. Got the roof on with some help from my dad. He also pointed out that we had a sick tree hanging over the roof, and should probably take care of it before putting a new roof on. So we did. My friend Matt and I figured out how to get it down yesterday. It was tricky. Then he and is wife came over for a really nice dinner that Naomi cooked! 

Birthday presents!

Ready for the metal.

Goodbye, maple.

First installment of roofing materials.

Moose for Mommy!

Birthday party fun.

Lots of cool stuff to explore!

Ready to go up.

Summertime

We had lots of fun this week! Naomi got to go to Isle Royale for the night. She stayed on the boat. The weather was perfect and she really enjoyed it! No moose though. The girls and I got to play a bit of disc golf and got some work done on the woodshed while she was gone. 

Also got the roofing materials ordered. We went back and forth between metal and asphalt. Tricky decision. Ended up sticking with asphalt as the metal was three times the price and the house isn't really designed for it. Was able to get a deal through a friend, so that helped too. Not looking forward to that job!

Finally made it back out to our land for a cookout last night. It was a lot of fun! If the logging operation does move forward, that will be the last one before things really change out there. 

Getting the woodshed started.

The girls were a bit help with the gravel and setting up the poles!

Finally went for my first bike ride of the season...in August...haha.

Lots of fun!

New fence in our backyard!