The Roof

It's been another busy week. My back is sore! On Monday we had the new fridge delivered, and I worked out some roof designs for the shed and put in some pads for the new roof to rest on. Made a bit of progress on the cabinet downstairs midweek, but realized I need a better belt sander to finish the job. Got a lot done on the roof by the end of the week, but ran into some problems, so it wasn't watertight. Had to strap some plastic on. 

The girls had an art show at school on Friday. That was fun to see! There was also a talent show but we didn't have time to stay for that. Yesterday we went to our friends with the farm. They were presenting at a gardening conference, so we watched their daughter and I got some boards sawed up. Got some luggage racks for the car to bring the boards back with, but ended up using the truck instead. My dad came to help out while Naomi and my mom went to a really nice high tea in Escanaba. After that we had a great birthday celebration dinner! 

It was a late night so hopefully we can get some rest today, but we have some friends coming over for Sourdough Sunday. Naomi isn't happy with the bread as she couldn't give it all the attention it needed yesterday, but I am sure it will still be tasty. Managed to get some digging done as well, and everything is scheduled in for the new windows. A little nervous about that project, but we will get it figured out. 

New fridge!

Luggage racks were damaged, but we got a discount.

Progress on the firewood storage space.

Art show.

Fun at the farm.

Back to the Shovel

I have definitely gotten my exercise this week! Neighbor Rick removed some sod with his tractor to get me started, but I dug out three egress windows and a trench halfway around next to the foundation to bury some insulation. Luckily no issues with utilities. Hopefully the window guy gets back to me soon with an install date so I can figure out when to cut the openings. 

On Thursday the sawmill came to cut up our logs. He finished up with Rick's pile, and right before he got to mine, the mill broke. I don't think he will be back. Maybe I can figure something out with Dominic. Made some progress on the guest room cabinet, too.

Naomi was home sick this week. She is feeling better now, though. The girls got to take a field trip to see a symphony orchestra. They also had a lot of fun jumping on the trampoline. Amélie helped me dig a bit yesterday because she wanted to, but Abigail does whatever she can to avoid work. 

Milled up some cedar at Dominic's. Need to get a roof rack!

The big sawmill. Everything hydraulic.

Field trip!

Lots of dirt to move.

The Eclipse

It was really cool to see the eclipse on Monday. The girls were too sick to go to school, so we got to go over to Rick's house with the special glasses Naomi picked up from the girls school. Tricky to try and take pictures of the eclipse, but we could see it really well through those glasses. Afterward, Abigail decided to try and burn some leaves with a magnifying glass. She got them to smoke. Amélie went to school on Tuesday, but it was a bit much, so she stayed home again Wednesday. The girls haven't been this sick in a long time. Fever lasted a few days. Thursday and Friday they were back in action. 

I made some progress on the cabinet in the guest room. It's going to take a lot more wood than I thought. Not sure I will have enough. Also need to extend the shed roof to make a place for drying freshly cut boards and firewood. Picked up the plywood yesterday. Grammie came up to get the girls on Friday and took us out to a really nice lunch at NMU with Naomi. We will celebrate Grampie's birthday for lunch. He conceded to giving up a small piece of his cake just so we could taste how amazing it is. Ron turned 80 on Friday. Got to have a video chat with him. 

Managed to finish up the composting toilet. It works great! Almost no smell at all, so it's okay for inside too. Not bad for an unplanned design. The utility company came to mark out the lines. Hopefully I can squeeze in those egress windows. Will be nice to get the insulation down and see those piles in the yard disappear. Also got the trampoline cleared out and summer stuff out of the shed and winter stuff in. Also went for the first run of the season. Body needs to adjust to that again! Planning to mill up some boards this afternoon with Dominic. Haven't been feeling sick yet, so hopefully I can escape this bug!

It was like a cloud covered the sun but there weren't any clouds...lucky!

Camera lenses too big to get a good shot through the eclipse glasses.

Works great!

Target practice. 

Naomi and I got to go out to a nice dinner.

Spring is Here!

I am hoping we had the last winter storm of the season this week. The weather has turned. It was a very odd storm though. They canceled school and NMU for two days even though we didn't really get any snow. Under an inch of slush. None at all right next to the lake. Go up the road a couple miles and they got over a foot! So strange. 

I put in the dig request to the utilities this morning so they can come and flag the lines. See how far I can get this month with the egress windows and the foundation insulation. It will be quite the project. Working on building a cabinet in the guest room too. Got the planer up and running so I can use some of the pine I got from our neighbor, and the wall is painted. The design is basically done. 

Had a little adventure yesterday. We want to collect some rain water and eventually make maple syrup, so I found some food grade 250 gallon totes for sale nearby. 100 bucks each. 700 new. The guy selling them was a real Yooper. Very interesting person. Had a nice sawmill and a whole heap of stuff going on at his property right next to the big lake on M28. We talked for an hour and a half or so. I will probably be back at some point. 

I also managed to deliver the bench and she was so happy, that she paid me a bit more than what we agreed on. I had to cut it a bit short to pick Amélie up from school early as she was feeling sick, though. Now both girls are feeling quite sick. They may not be up for school tomorrow. This is very disappointing as there are plans for the eclipse. Our neighbors went down to Indiana for the week to see it. Hopefully it isn't too cloudy!

Easter celebrations!

Cool ice formations down by the river.

Not really up for watching the lacrosse game...

...but we went anyway.

So sick!

Picked one up for Neighbor Rick as well.

Very happy with the new bench.

Slush day! Got to have a friend over.