Feb 9-10 camping in the cold

We only went up 2 times in January, not much happened, no pics and usually a one day trip. Too cold, too depressing- go figure that out.

Hank working hard on the drive north. Don't try this at home, professional stunt dog!!!

Temps at 5AM were -12 degrees(as in minus-negative)
according to the folks at Garrett's. So by 10AM we hit a whopping 15 degrees. At least it was positive. We had the woodstove working and the kerosene heater on high to help warm it up.

By early afternoon it was popping 80 and actually got to 90 degrees before we went to bed. Kids were running around barefoot and lightly clothed. Whole house was feeling warm. Sat up on night watch and kept fire going till 2am, then kinda was too sleepy to reload it and fire went out. Temps had dropped into 50's by 5am.

Silly picture of these two goofs. Hunter was on couch and Hank on floor till I pulled out camera and then they both switched spots. Goofy dudes. They look sad cause I just told them we had to get going before the ice/rain started.

Dec. 15-16

Well cool but not cold, kinda wet, typical Michigan weather in winter....

This is the bedroom floor. Had originally planned on installing the door but the price was higher than I recalled so we passed on that. But the great HD had some flooring on sale and wow I like. It is called scraped hickory. Once we figured out how to install it, it flew into place. We have one small piece to fix in the subfloor and then the last pieces can go in. Been working to finish this room ( mental health reasons) so we hung the drywall and started planning out how to finish up the ceiling and such.

We definitely want to add an exhaust fan to pull the smoke out when you open the woodstove door. 

I'll hunt around town for a door and see if I can beat the price from up there.

December

Well we have been visiting each weekend this month, no pictures to share. Keep the woodstove going and the place is real comfortable. Have been working slowly on electrical stuff, finished up the bedroom. Working on flooring in bedroom Dec. 16th. We got reasonable temps so even in the morning it is not too hard to warm up the place.

Basically running through the supplies we bought and using them up as cash got REAL tight this fall. Kids having fun so we are muddling through.

Ben figured out paper airplanes fly off the loft real nice......

Thanksgiving 2012 "when winter begins"

Well quite the storm blew in from Canada for Thanksgiving. We arrived on Friday afternoon and hurried to make a fire and warm up the place. The next day we awoke to snow, reports were up to 8 inches just north of the lake, we got 3 inches of snow but it was piled up with the wind. We kept the fire going all night, thanks the night watch....

The vapor barrier REALLY knocks the wind out, it was blowing like crazy and we did not feel it inside, even though the insulation is minimal.

November 10-11

No pictures, kinda hard to get excited over hanging drywall and running electrical. Anyways, we hung 4 sheets of drywall and worked on the electrical outlets. Downstairs bedroom has power and lights!!! Also got the lights upstairs started so that should be done real soon. Weather was nice, warm front blew through and felt good.

We are looking at flooring choices for the bedroom now. Need to get it covered as the OSB is hard to keep clean.

We cooked up some  chicken Alfredo which is now the kids fav food request. Kids got dominoes and writing journals, plenty to do even if it rains.

Oct. 27th and 28th

We carved up a pumpkin for Halloween, cute little guy. Actually I wanted to make pumpkin seeds on top of the woodstove and needed the seeds. 

Also bought Monopoly and kids really played a storm up, they need to learn some strategy but it was fun. The wee one had more properties then the rest of us but no cash....

Got the first sheet of drywall hung in the bedroom. There are 5 more 10 footers ready and waiting to hang. Temps were of in the 40's and low 50's. We kept the stove busy usually in the morning and evening to keep the temps comfortable. The place should be a joy once all the insulation has been installed. Temps never dropped below 60 even with it in the low 30's Sunday morning.

Really think I will install an exhaust vent in the upper roof over the great room to help pull smoke out. Got a bit smoky in the cabin opening the woodstove door.

October Update

Well we have been up here for the last two weekends but no pictures. Mostly working on electrical stuff, bedroom has lights and outlets. We also got stuff organized to get the power upstairs done next trip. Weather has been ok, cool mornings etc. Have not had to rely on the woodstove, temps have been 65 to 70 in house. Looks like this weekend will test our cold weather ability as night time temps will go into high 20's.

Drywall time approaching fast, bedroom is first and then main hallway. Kitchen after that once we finish wiring the kitchen.

Kids got Monopoly game and that has been a great time waster for us. That and squirrel feeding.