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!

Family Time

We spent a great few days with Caryn & Paul! Wonderful that they could come back up for another visit. They made it on Wednesday, along with my parents, to watch the girl's final soccer game of the season. Bummer that it is already over! We also had some fun checking out the maritime museum. Missed the lighthouse tour though, so we will need to do that some other time. 

I was able to finish the chicken coop and the solar dehydrator! Sure is good to have those crossed off the list. Started that dehydrator two years ago. Even made it out to a friend's house. He is a builder and is finally building his own place. I will help him out this fall/winter. Right on the big lake. 

Did a lot of thinking about our new roof too. Going back and forth between metal and asphalt options. Sadly, the metal was almost twice the price we expected, so we might need to go with asphalt. Also had an article come out this week about our ideas, and I am really happy with how it turned out!

https://news.engin.umich.edu/2026/08/building-sustainable-furniture-structures-and-community-in-marquette-pete-cook/

Chicken run.

Maritime museum.

Solar dehydrator.

Sunset Lake

 

We weren't able to finish up the chicken coop before we left, but both girls helped out with it! There isn't much left to do. Restarted work on the food dehydrator as well, but didn't get very far. Got a heavy thunderstorm that recharged the pond and the gardens. Much needed. 

We did manage to start the big roof project. A little nervous about that one. Got everything measured out and we will get quotes on the metal from two places. Not many outstanding questions. Even worked in a bit of disc golf and ice cream with the girls! Went out for a fancy anniversary dinner as well. Naomi really had to work for her meal!

It was a wonderful trip to Wisconsin. Got to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday party. She was doing really well and it was fun to see so much family. The girls had a blast on the lake. Swimming and tubing. Even caught a few fish to bring back to our pond. Tricky to catch. Made it back just in time for a game of soccer - parents against kids - followed by a pizza party. It's their last week. 

Dinner at the lake.

The big party.

Fish made it home.

Sunrise over Sunset Lake.

Anniversary dinner.

Our first water lily!

Tired from swimming.

Ice cream!

Best & Worst

Amélie really covered the spectrum this week. She found some baby bunnies next to our driveway that were in pretty rough shape. Eyes still closed, not much more than a week old. She was thrilled to have the chance to try and take care of them. Her best day of the summer. A couple days later she had her worst day of the summer when the last of the three died. She tried her best and it was a good experience for her!

The girls finally got to play some soccer, but Monday wasn't the day. Big thunderstorms and still some smoke. Abigail got to spend some time on her own in Escanaba learning to make stained glass! She really enjoyed it. When I picked her up I had to park under the tree because a huge storm with lots of hail was nearby. Luckily it just missed us. 

We got the doors finished up downstairs, I made some closet shelves, finished up the inside of the greenhouse, and started on the outside of the chicken coop. Should have some chickens coming after we get back from Wisconsin this coming weekend. We had three butterflies emerge in the greenhouse! Two of them didn't make it for long at all, so there won't be any eggs this time. Also got a new client. I will start some work for them in September. Really nice people living just a few blocks away. 

Baby bunnies!

Black swallowtails in the greenhouse.

Finally finished.

So small!

Inside part of the coop.

Nature's garage.

Easy access to eggs.

Hopefully a fun place!