Garden Building

I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the garden this year. The leaves didn't break down in the way I hoped they would. The fence is not very good. I didn't get as much topsoil as I wanted. Fruit fly-like insects are eating the roots of the young plants and have stunted their growth. But it is in. We will see what grows. Lots left to clean up and improve out there, but I can take a little break as the urgent stuff is done. I am happy with those concrete blocks that came out of the foundation. I think they will keep the tomatoes and peppers warm. There is potential out there. 

Managed to wire up the trailer connections yesterday. That was a pain. Finally found a relevant explanation. Thankful someone took the time to put it online! We will test it out today with the pop up camper. I made some adjustments to the camper as well, so it should be ready to roll. Hope the tires make it okay. The car is acting a bit funny. Hesitating. Maybe needs some spark plugs or something. Maybe it just got tired after hauling all that top soil! Got caught in a thunderstorm when I was spreading it out. 

Also made it out to our property to get things prepped for our campout today. Met with a couple people about our plans for the land. Everything seems okay from a zoning standpoint. Might need to adjust our building plans to get occupancy though. Later that day the girls had their first track meet. They were very nervous but had a blast and did great! Bumped into someone I went to high school with. We hadn't talked since I was in 9th grade but we remembered each other's names. Their family just moved to town last year as well. Naomi knew a lot of people there too. She introduced me to a professor from Nigeria. Interesting to talk with him. 

Yesterday we finally managed to meet with Scotty, my old basketball teammate and business partner in person for the first time this millennium. Got to see his family's property (the road has their name) on a lake outside of Crystal Falls, a town built on a steep hill. We went to Riverside Pizzeria in Iron River for dinner. Apparently it has the best pizza in the whole state of Michigan. They opened at four, and we got there at 4:40. It was packed. Two hour wait time. So we went somewhere else. Not sure how much we would have liked it anyway as we prefer Italian style pizzas. Can't find those around here at all. Ended up finding a nice spot to eat nearby. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Scotty!

Happy bees. No smoke or netting needed to open things up.

Neighbors helped us spot the morels by our driveway!

Foggy only down by the lake when I got topsoil.

Prepping the campsite.

Amélie ran the mile and the 800.

Abigail did the 200, a relay, and the long jump.

Experimenting with some ideas in the new garden.

Sunburn

Managed to get the first sunburn of the year putting shingles on the new shed roof yesterday. The cork failed as it was too thin, and I need a better underlayment. Will give it a second try on the lower part of the roof when that is put together. Sure am glad neighbor Rick is around to teach me all these new skills!

Did a lot of prepping for the camping season this week. We got a classic pop up camper from a friend and it's great! It was restored not long ago. The girls slept out there for the past two nights and even made it through a little thunderstorm. Did some shopping for other gear and I will go out sometime this week to start to set some things up. Next weekend we will spend the night on our land. 

Started cleaning up this week too. Those windows sure made a mess of things. The new opening into the crawlspace is great though. Got some wood stashed under there. Feels good to get the garage organized, but there is a long way to go on that front. Need to take advantage of the good weather and lack of bugs while it lasts - although I did get my first bite yesterday. 

The new (old) camper. 

Marshmallow loves our front yard.

Gearing up at L&M. My favorite store.

Naomi and Amélie made sushi! It was tasty.

Craft time. 

New Windows

I passed the test! The window company was able to install the new windows into the openings I prepared. This week was dedicated to getting them ready to go. I poured concrete sills and somehow managed to get the uneven block openings straight and level with some creative carpentry. The basement is a whole lot nicer now. Still need to do the trim and work on the window wells, but for now I can move onto some other more pressing tasks. Feels good to have them in.

Our bees are doing very well. Molly came to check on them and was impressed. I have been giving them some sugar water to help them out during this startup phase. Also managed to find a good deal on some lights for the basement. Hopefully they will work out okay! Taking a gamble on some technology here. Somehow the exact number of lights they had was the exact number of lights I needed. Waiting for something to go wrong. Outside of our old school comfort zone here.

Both girls had some artwork on display at NMU's museum. Fun to check out the exhibit, and nice to be the only school where students make what they want instead of all following the same assignment. They also got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend. Amélie had some rough moments again. She is learning how to deal with these strong emotions though. Yesterday was a lot of cleanup but we found a great new lunch spot. Also got to enjoy dinner with Pish on the big lake. Naomi baked an outstanding strawberry rhubarb pie. My parents are coming up to celebrate Mother's Day with us. Would be nice to get a bit more rest this morning! 

What a mess.

What a deal!

Fun at the museum.

Prepped and ready.

Solid sills.

New windows!

Holes in the House

My dad came up to help me cut three holes in the foundation for new windows. What a job! Good thing he was there or I never would have gotten it done. The saw was slower and more difficult that we had anticipated, and the openings will need some clever woodworking as they are anything but straight, but it should be possible. The mess was minimal as it was a wet saw and the plastic system we put up caught most of the water. Today I still need to cut out the opening to enlarge the crawlspace but that is a smaller job. The saw has two blades to it can plunge up to 16 inches deep. 

Also got the cork roof on the shed. Not finished, but it keeps the water out for now. The bees came on Friday as well! Fun to see how that process works. They seem to be happy in their new hive. Shipped up from Georgia. Will need to build a fence around that whole garden area. I also got the center part of the guest room cabinet put together. Found a couple beetle larvae in the process. Probably as I stored some of the wood outside over the winter. Shouldn't be a problem though. I think the holes the bored are really cool and add a lot to the interesting colors that are already in the wood. Painted the walls to match the blues. 

Tuesday was Naomi's birthday and after a weekend of celebrating, we celebrated some more! The girls made her beautiful gifts. They get better each year. We also went out for a fancy dinner. She couldn't believe how well her new bread knife cuts! She gets to try it out on fresh bread today. 

Found a beetle larvae after planing.

Abigail's necklace for Naomi.

Special birthday appetizers. First berries of the season!

Dinner at Iron Bay.

The bees are moving in! 

Not a fun job.

Amélie's birthday carving.

The big saw.

Progress on the cabinet. It is huge.

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.