Prepping for Winter

Lots of time critical things got done this week. Helped our neighbor get the roof on their cabin. Got the rest of the mushroom logs inoculated. Poured concrete (washed up the mess in the big lake which was exciting given the big waves) and finished the cedar at TNT. Even managed to get the trailer hitch installed (apart from the wiring) and did a bit of Halloween shopping yesterday. Cleared out more of the aspen mess as well with the help of another neighbor. Not quite ready for winter yet, but getting close. 

The girls are not very excited about Halloween. Curious what they will think of hay ride trick or treating - we will go with a group behind our neighbors tractor. They are getting a pet guinea pig at school, so that is much more exciting for them. 

Hopefully now that the time critical stuff is calming down, we can get the house cleaned up and organized better and I can keep chipping away at the workshop. Mom and Dad came up on Thursday. Mom helped Naomi figure out her benefits package and Dad helped with some lights in the workshop, so that was good. They will be back up tomorrow. Chance of snow on Halloween!

Naomi took the girls for a waterfall walk.

Finishing up the cabin on Lake Michigamme.

Concrete work at TNT.

Sealed the cedar at TNT.

Halloween shopping!

Jobs!

This week I spent a good chunk of time putting a quote together for True North Treks to remodel their yoga studio. They didn't go for it as material costs are too high right now, but they did offer to take me on for an hourly basis as needed. I got the phone call with the offer while Naomi was taking a call from NMU who offered her a position as well! What a coincidence. I already started work at TNT and Naomi starts mid November. That gives us a bit of time to wrap things up around the house and figure out her benefits package. 

The girls had a short week at school. They got the day off on Monday, so we hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain. The fall colors are beautiful! They also had a half day on Wednesday. Saturday was a course at NMU.

I have been trying to get the trees cleaned up outside. Yesterday was a full day of inoculating aspen and willow with Italian oyster mushroom spawn. Took longer than expected. I had to work after dinner, after we went to the girl's fall fest bake sale at their school, and an owl was keeping me company. Good thing I got the right tools for the job or it would have been impossible to do in one day! Hopefully I can get the shiitakes done on Tuesday. Yesterday I put in a full day of teaching and helping Kile set up for a concrete pour. Today will be helping neighbor Tyler build his cabin, then Monday is tree cleanup, and back to TNT later this week. Sure am getting a good workout!

Picked up some old wood for the gardens from neighbor Steve.

The girls had a bake sale and sung a song at school.

Inoculating the aspen and willow with Italian oyster mushroom spawn.

The climb up Sugarloaf Mountain. 

Fall colors are amazing at TNT - and everywhere else around here!

Eight Aspen

Our neighbor, Tyler, had some extra time on Wednesday so he came over with his tractor and chainsaw to help take down some aspen trees that were threatening to fall on the house. Still have a couple more to go, but we got eight of them down in about 5 hours. Cleaned up some of the mess on Thursday, then on Friday, a different neighbor, Rick, came over with his tractor and chainsaw to help clean up. Who would have thought there would be so many tractors in the city?

It was great to meet Rick. He is also a furniture maker, so he showed me his woodshop. Impressive place. He gutted and redid his whole house, and it is beautiful. He is having some logs cut into boards this spring, so he said he would add some of mine to the pile. Hauled them over with his tractor. 

I also got all my wood stock stowed and finished setting up the bandsaw. Next up is the dust collector. Takes forever! Tried closing down my Dutch bank account, but that didn't work. Hopefully someone can help over the phone. 

The girls tried out art club this week, and they liked it! Fun that the school offers such options. Amélie also started meeting with the school counselor to work on ways to deal with her emotions. Hopefully it helps! She is difficult to handle. Today we will head over to TNT so the girls can check the place out, and I will help Kile finish the sauna. He offered me the job of insulating and finishing the yoga studio. Should be a good project! Hopefully I can get them to go for some cork options. 

Fun baking some apple treats!

Working on clearing and building up the sledding hill. 

The Beach?!

It was really hot on Monday and Tuesday, so we went to the beach both days. The lake was pretty chilly, but then, it is October! I felt very relaxed after the dip in the cold water. Amélie continues to have her tantrums, meltdowns, and hormonal issues. Sure hope we can move past this because it puts us all on edge. 

There was a holiday in China this past week, so most of our lessons have been canceled. It will be good to get back into it. Made some good progress with getting the workshop organized. Finished the kitchen vent fan project and the attic, so now we were able to get the garage cleaned out. Nice to have that space back! 

Also cleaned out the gutters (sure is nice to have leaf guards) and put the screens in the shed. Getting ready for winter. It's cold and rainy now and the furnace is on. Hard to imagine it was so hot just a few days ago. The girls also went on their first hiking club trip. They had a blast! Got to spend time with two great teachers and just a small handful of kids. What a great school. 

The beach turned stormy by the time we were on our way to Escanaba. It was impressive. Also impressive that my dad was able to take down the big willow tree with a lift! Good to be able to help out. Sad to see the big tree go. Got to pick some apples and take the girls to a football game in honor of Grandpa Jack as well. Escanaba got pounded again. Amazing to be able to come down for the weekend!

Kitchen

Grammie and Grampie stayed with us for a couple days this week. My dad had a conference in town. It was fun to spend some time together, and to make some progress on the kitchen! I added an outlet for a fridge in mudroom and my dad and I moved the microwave into its old spot. Also got the new vent fan partially installed. It's amazing. 

Working on assembling some machines as everything is now in the basement. Good thing we picked up a hand truck. The table saw is so heavy! Had to take the motor off the dust collector to get it down. I can barely lift the motor assembly on my own. It's going to be really loud. Picked up the wiring stuff to get the electrical done down there. 

The girls had a really nice afternoon yesterday painting and drawing together outside. We might go to the beach again today. It's been so warm. They had another good week at school, although Amélie came home sick yesterday. Thursday was the ice cream social. Good chance to talk more with their teacher. She will also teach the girls next year which is great. 

We took a great bike ride while the girls were in school.

Someone has been working hard!

Colors are starting to turn.