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| our "Cabin in the Woods". |
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| our "Cabin in the Woods". |
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The picture to the left showes the county maintained roads adjacent to our property with the typical bright sunny blue-sky day in Manistee county. |  |
The same county maintained road on another typical bright sunny blue-sky day. This time it's February and the temperatures are a bit colder. As you can tell by the roadside this area receives a lot of snow. |
| Putting up a line fence to designate the property line. This helps those wondering around in the woods find they way back since all trees look the same. The corner posts were painted orange to be seen especially by the snowmobilers. |  |
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| Scoping out the property to determine the best location to place the cabin and cut in a driveway. It was much easier to get the vehicles off the road in August than in February. The two pictures contrast the differences. |  |
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The final decision on a driveway location couldn't be done without Emma's help. It was much easier to navigate the property before the snowfall. After staking the building location and driveway the removal of trees begins. |  |
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Scott and Bob start the clearing process. Most of the trees cut down to make way for the driveway were Jack Pine. We saved as many of the White Pines and Oaks as possible. A few small White and Black Oaks had to go but we kept that to a minimum. |
| Working in 12 to 24 inches of snow provided a challenge for those of us not used to working under those conditions. We slept very well at night from all the physical activity. Emma had a great time running around in the snow but after a while she got tired, cold and wanted to get back in the truck. |  |
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Meeting with the builders at the building site. Emma has to give her approval. Well maybe she just wanted to let them know its her cabin too. |  |
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As the first day of cutting trees draws to a close, the stumps, woodpile and the walk back to the truck begin. | width="25%">The two pictures to the left are views from where the cabin will be built while looking back to the road where we started cutting in the driveway. The weather could not have been more perfect for a day of cutting timbers. |
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| width="24%"> The area on the right side of the adjacent picture shows a small hill and the start of the clearing. This is a view from the road and the start of the driveway. The area in the small hill is the location where the cabin will be located. |  |
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Bob running his new chain saw. Just like a kid with a new toy |
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The next tree takes a tumble to the ground. Thank goodness its close to the wood pile. By this time we're all getting a bit tired of carrying wood though the snow. At least next winter we'll have enough fire wood to keep us warm. |  |
| Some of the larger Oak trunks will be cut up into Oak ruff siding to be used in Scott's barn. He as access to a saw mill to process the timbers cut into siding. Emma checks out one of the newly cut trees. She did a great job of staying out of the way. |  |
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| The weekend of March 26-27 brought on the first weekend of "Spring" and the continuation of cutting and clearing. |
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Perfect weather with blue sky and mild temperatures. Upper 30's to lower 40's with little or no wind. The wood and brush piles continue to grow. |
| With a NEW chainsaw in hand, the house location is the likely spot to finish up before the actual construction begins. |  |
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After clearing all the downed trees it was time to complete the clearing process on the driveway. The stumps were easier to locate after some of the snow melted. |  |
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| Lori continues to stack the wood that will be used for heat in our fireplace at home and for burning in the fire pit in the campground. The piles of wood continue to grow. Only the large logs remain on the actual building site. Scott will bring in this tractor to remove the logs. |  |
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| The arrival of "spring" and the warmer temperatures brought on the melting of the 2+ feet of snow that was on the ground when we started. Some of the wood piles tumbled over when the snow underneath melted. |  |
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Bob clearing the circle drive and the entrance to the campground of small Oak trees. The trunks are be piled up and cut later for firewood. |  |
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The Honda 4 wheeler came handy to drag the trees to a pile. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Other activities on the 4 wheeler were not necessarily work related. |
Next - "The Building Process Begins"! |