We" Labored" This Weekend!

September 3-6, 2010 - Labor Day Weekend

Doug and I had a great holiday in what will probably be our last long weekend of work on the cabin. Labor Day always marks the end of summer and brings a mixture of happy and sad feelings. Sad in that it is the end of those hot, longer days of summer with sandals and grilling and washing in the lake and more freedom (it seems) and spontaneity. But it's happy in that it also marks the beginning of fall, the grandest season in Minnesota. Fall brings beautiful colors and cozy sweatshirts and football (the Vikings already had their disappointing season opener last night!) and a freshness in the air along with some sense of structure and routine again. 

Our journey to the cabin took us on the usual path up Int. 94. As usual we stopped at the Middle Spunk Creek Rest Area just past Avon, Minnesota. Here, we stop to let Maddie get out and do her "thing" and we do the same.

 On this day, however, we were met with a curious sight facing us in the parking lot. As we pulled up, I said,

"Who's butt is?...what is?...huh?"

Oh well, at least they warned us! So once again, we saw God's sense of humor at work in nature with something that we'd never "experienced" before.

The race is on to get the siding on and get the furnace in before the weather really turns cold. With the way the squirrels are gathering nuts like...nuts in our yard at home, we're confident it will be a long, frigid winter. We are finally close to choosing the furnace we'd like to install and we have almost all of the venting stored in our basement at home. We've been blessed with the expert advise of our friend, Dave Manley, who is a retired HVAC guy. He is even selling us some of his left over ducts and supplies at a great price. We know we have to get the furnace installed within a month or so. We'll see how that goes!

But for now, our focus was the siding and fascias and soffits. Here's what things looked like when Doug left it last weekend.

We started with installing the soffits and fascias. This quickly became one of my least favorite jobs! Working with the sharp metal with its screeching sounds as you cut or install it sent wrenching pain down my spine.

After completing the big gable, we got the final window installed in the little gable too. This we had saved for last since the rough opening served as an easy exit onto the roof. Now that that is no longer necessary, voila, we have a beautiful window!

Little side note...very few things have gone exactly as planned. When we lifted the window to install it, it didn't fit! It was about 6 inches too big! What in the world? So, the quick window install turned into tearing out the old roughed in window frame and rebuilding it. Ugh! Anyway, it's in and beautiful and bigger than what it was!

It was somewhat surprising how putsy the fascia and soffit installation process was. It took us one day per gable to do that and side the gables. But, it is super rewarding! When you step back and take in the whole picture, it's a great feeling! No more looking at the "Tyvek quilt" pattern kiddywhumpus (try spelling that word-since it's a made up word, I'll try a made up spelling) all over the house!

Our evenings at the cabin typically consist of working until we can't stand the hunger and fatigue any longer. We try to get something quick and simple to eat for dinner, and then  plant ourselves in front of a movie to just veg. Occasionally, we get a second blast of inspiration and if we're lucky, some energy to go along with it. This weekend, we got both and decided to build the interior wall to the basement bathroom. It is always fun to see the rooms take their actual shape.

Now, not only does the bathroom have actual shape, it has an actual door! Yes, it's a curtain-type door, but they are double-thick and they coordinate AND it provides more privacy than was previously offered! What? You can't even see the bathroom? PRECISELY!  Pretty snazzy, huh?!

With all the excess energy, Sandy also put awesome green glass drawer pulls and knobs on the kitchen drawers (a stellar craigslist find!). Now, you don't have to set stuff down and use two hands to grasp the edges of the drawer to get it open!

Last weekend, Doug put an exterior electrical shut-off (as required by the electrical inspector) at the front of the house. So, we were finally able to fill the hole in the ground all around it. It then needed some rocks to help the water dripping from the roof get directed away from the house.


Kind of looks like only Sandy did all the work this weekend! That lazy Doug! He was probably slacking off somewhere!